Spiraling Vixen
by Babyuknowme13
Summary: femnaru what if something came to make her a more serious kunoichi? Lets see what tricks this young vixen has up her sleeves. I leave it to my readers to discover the true meaning of this fic. Free request fic rewarded to winner. REVIEW TO SUBMIT ANSWER!
1. Chapter 1

LC; This will be awesome.  
>Naruto; You say that about every fic you write.<br>Sasuke; I sense a pattern here.  
>LC; I only say it because it is true!<br>Naruto; Yeah right, your just a rookie.  
>Sasuke; Naruto, you just contracted foot-in-mouth syndrome.<br>Naruto; Nani?  
>Sasuke; Look. *Points to emo-corner*<br>LC; *Crying anime tears*  
>Naruto; Whoops.<br>Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto, however this idea is all mine and it is awesome therefore my lack of owning it does not matter!

Chapter 1; Beginning of a legend, Spiraling Vixen!

A six year old girl ran through a forest. Normally this would not be a strange or note worthy occasion. It was abnormal though, in the fact she was running around in the dead of night from an angry mob armed with whatever weaponry could be found on short notice.  
>The girl herself justified second glances at her exotic appearance. She had blonde hair cut to the shoulder with twigs and leaves caught affectively by the flowing locks as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her.<br>Her blue eyes were streaming in tears as she tried to stifle her own sobs. Her whisker markings on each cheek were distorted from the grimace of pain on her face. She wore a black shirt and cargo shorts, along with blue sandals.  
>This is Naru Uzumaki.<p>

"The demon went this way!" A man cried, startling Naru and urging her to run faster, desperate to escape her pursuers.  
>As she ran she did not notice the root in her way and fell heavily on her hands and knees. This put her directly in line with the entrance to a hollow tree and she gratefully crawled inside, eager to escape the glares of her followers.<br>Inside the tree she was surprised to find a small family of foxes. She was about to crawl back outside and take her chances with the men, not wanting to gather the wrath of the wild life, when she felt the vixen tug at her sleeve, pulling her back inside.

She waited as the men ran past, not even acknowledging her hiding place. Without ever realizing it, she fell asleep, so comforted by the presence of her furred heroes.  
>The sun rose on another day and Naru opened her eyes from inside the dark gloominess of the hollow tree.<br>She was pleasantly surprised to find the entire fox family curled around her small body, keeping her warm in the night. She smiled to herself and decided to leave some meat or something in the forest for them when the foxes woke up.

"Are you injured kit?" Naru gasped before looking around, thinking a young woman was addressing her.

"Do not be frightened little kit, you are safe." She watched in a stupor as the vixen rubbed her chest comfortingly.  
>She had just met a talking fox.<p>

"You can talk Japanese!" She gasped quietly, worried someone might hear her talking to foxes and declare her mentally insane. (Too little too late kid)

"You can understand me?" The she-fox cocked her head to one side, evaluating the young human girl that had snuck into her burrow in the dead of night.  
>She had helped the kit on a whim, but she had not expected her to understand the canine tongue.<p>

"You are speaking plain Japanese." Naru tried to point out, still a little mind blown from the fact she was actually responding to an animal.

"I fear you are mistaken." The fox said, shaking her head slowly.

"I am speaking the canine tongue. I am rather surprised you can understand it though. Are you a messenger of Inari-sama?" Naru was too shocked to ask who this Inari person was and merely shook her head in answer. It was strange enough that she was hiding in a fox den, but actually talking to said fox was a little too much for her exhausted mind.  
>One of the three kits who, until now, were playing with their mother s tail, chose now to approach the strange guest.<br>It was a young male, small for his age, with a bright red coloring and snow white paws. His black nose tingled as he sniffed the girl s scent.

"Kaasan, I like her." This was no small observation to voice in the canine community. If someone inserted themselves into your heart, you remained loyal to them.  
>Young as he was, he knew the consequences of such a bond. In fact, he welcomed it.<p>

They spoke for a while. Naru told them about her life up to that point, which admittedly wasn t very interesting.  
>She told about how she had started at the academy that year and was already far behind. She told them about her self-proclaimed rivalry with the Uchiha boy. She even told them about the hate she faced daily from the general public. They listened intently as the girl told them of her burdens, laying her shoulders bare.<p>

When Naru left later that day, it was to a shining sun and a lighter conscience. She was unaware of the small red and white stalker she had picked up until she had almost reached the village.  
>She had paused just shy of the forest borders to stretch and get all the kinks out of her body after the cramped sleep last night.<p>

"Naru-sama, my name is Kisu." Naru jumped a mile and turned to see the kit sitting erect facing her. She could barely comprehend the fact the little fox had followed her.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn t you go home to your Kaasan?" She asked him quietly, not wanting to be caught talking to an animal.

"I like you and wish to fight beside you." He stated simply, in a voice speaking of his naivety and good nature. Naru could see no reason not to let him tag along and told him he had to follow her quietly and carefully because the villagers might not like wild animals.  
>Kisu agreed readily and followed her silent as the dead to her apartment building. Neither knew that was the start of a strong friendship that would see many sunrises and sunsets. But they were both a little less alone from that moment forth.<p>

Inside the apartment, Naru tried to find something her little foxy friend could eat. Her fridge held some meat but she was less than confident in whether it had passed its expiration date or not.  
>Eventually she settled on some hamburger meat she had no use for and gave it to him, making a note to buy some dog food or something later.<p>

Having noticed the lack of sustenance in her abode, Naru decided today would be shopping day. She lifted a loose board in her living room to reveal her hard saved money and brought out the whole lot.  
>She would need supplies for her new friend and she wanted to make him happy, since he had helped her and became her first friend.<p>

"Naru-sama, can I come if I m quiet and not seen?" Kisu asked, using his puppy eyes in order to get her to agree.  
>She nodded reluctantly, worried that the villagers might take him away if they found him. She warned him to be careful before locking the door behind them and heading to the market for food.<br>Kisu watched as Naru was treated awfully and over charged for the smallest item. It almost had him growling out loud at the injustice of it all.

He wished he could do something to help his mistress, but unless he could do so without being seen it would do no good. Besides, his presence would probably only make things worse. His Kaasan had always told him these villagers hated foxes because of the Kyubi no Kitsune and he had no wish to end up as a small throw rug.

Somehow, Naru managed to get all the things she needed. She had a pet bed, some dog food, a few toys, and even a cute little blanket she had noticed Kisu looking at through a window.  
>She had been so eager to please him that she had completely forgotten about food for herself. She decided later it didn t matter since she had instant ramen at home.<p>

Later that night, Kisu was curled up in his new bed and blinking blearily as his mistress performed her nightly ritual.  
>She first undressed from her day clothes and put on some sky blue pajamas. She brushed her hair to get all the dirt and things out, and then she climbed into her bed to sleep. It had been an interesting and informative first day and Kisu was curious about what tomorrow would hold. Well, he d never find out if he didn t get to sleep, he decided.<br>Closing his eyes, Kisu drifted off into dreamland with one last thought. He would be there for his mistress, no matter what.

Monday dawned hot and bright and Naru wished it would come later. Say at like noon instead of six in the morning that would be nice.  
>But no, not even the sun would take pity on this mentally and physically exhausted child. Groaning about the unfairness of the universe in general, Naru rolled off her bed and tiredly trudged to the bathroom.<br>It was not until after she hopped from the ground to the warm bath water did she remember her fuzzy companion in her bedroom.  
>She always left the bathroom door open and so could see into her bedroom. If she stretched her neck a little she could see the corner that Kisu had insisted his bed be placed. She could see him sleeping in his bed, completely unresponsive to the outside world.<br>Smiling to herself about having a new friend, she thought back to what he had told her before they had returned to the village.

"I want to fight for you." She muttered unconsciously. Kiba had a pet puppy that he claimed his clan used as ninken, living tools.  
>Could she train Kisu like Kiba trained Akamaru? It was worth looking into at least, but she would need to know more about it. She would have to ask Kiba today at the academy, she decided.<br>She got dressed and brushed her hair, noting that it was getting a little on the long side and would need a cut soon.  
>By the time she had finished, Kisu was up as well and watching her as she went about getting breakfast for them. As the water soaked her noodles she poured some dog food into a bowl for Kisu. He happily bounded over and dug in, washing it down with a few tongue full s of water straight after.<p>

"I have to go to the academy today Kisu, what do you want to do?" She asked, wondering what a little kit could do all day if she was not there.  
>Kisu shrugged before answering that he would follow her to the academy and simply wait for her to come back out to go home. She nodded, accepting this and they set off to the ninja academy for konohagakure.<p>

Outside the academy, Naru made a quick survey to see if it was safe to stay outside or if it was one of those days which meant she d have to get inside before the parents attacked.  
>Luckily, the only parents were some moms who Naru knew didn t immediately hate her so long as she stayed away from their kids. Meaning they were civilians.<br>Feeling a little better about her social standing for the day, Naru left the street and walked to the play ground where kids were waiting for the school day to start.

'Uchiha showing off with his shuriken to hordes of screaming fan girls, Kiba is talking to Akamaru, Shika and Chouji are watching clouds and eating respectively, Ino and Sakura look like they are having a discussion about Sakura s confidence, Shino is playing with his bugs, and Hinata is apparently trying not to be noticed.' Naru mentally filed each different occurrence in the normal happenings of the academy file.

Contrary to popular belief, while Naru is dead last of her class, she is rather smart. As none of the teachers bothered to teach her how to read, she always flunked the tests and homework they were given.  
>Her mind was actually well organized for someone her age. She easily excelled whenever they did something practical, but all the reading from the text books did little to help her as most of the time they did not read aloud.<br>Naru had been standing still for so long that she had given time for some of the students to notice her. They began whispering to each other about the weird girl that they were not allowed to play with. They all knew she was weird but they didn t know why they couldn t play with her.  
>Lots of the kids were weird, but they were allowed to play with them. With the patented child naivety they chalked it up to her being bad with all of her pranks and left it at that.<br>However, some of the kids thought about it a little more.

"Hey Shikamaru, isn t that Naru over there?" Chouji pointed out to his cloud gazing friend. They sometimes hung out with her, like when they wanted to ditch class.  
>Naru was surprisingly knowledgeable about the quickest way out of whatever classroom they happened to be in at the time. It was like she expected to be attacked at any moment and had located all possible escape routes for such an occasion.<p>

Shikamaru turned his head and looked over to the troublesome blonde who had by then made her way to her swing.  
>It was called Naru s swing because no one else ever sat on it but her. Shikamaru would never admit it since it would be troublesome, but he did actually find the girl interesting. She was a bit of a mystery, like a puzzle that he couldn t solve because it was missing a crucial piece.<br>Sure she was troublesome because she was so loud, but he liked the company anyway.

He was thinking about whether it would be troublesome to call out to her when he noticed a small fox darting behind the tree that she was swinging from.  
>He blinked, trying to see if he was imagining things. Why a fox would be following Naru he didn t know, it was another little piece to the puzzle though. It also decided for him what he was going to do.<p>

"Hey Naru, do you want to join me and Shikamaru?" Chouji called over to the young girl. Naru nearly fell out of her swing and smiled at her friends before jumping from the swing and running over.  
>Shikamaru kept his eyes glued to the tree but the fox didn t come out. He mentally shook his head and berated himself for thinking anything about it.<br>That didn t stop him from keeping an eye at the tree though. It just made things more troublesome.

"Morning guys!" Naru greeted her friends. Any non-troublesome shapes in the clouds Shika? He lazily snickered at the girl before shaking his head in the negative.  
>She took her accustomed place on the cool green grass and happily accepted the chips Chouji was offering.<p>

"So what do you have planned today Naru?" Chouji asked, probably talking to her legendary pranks that she pulled on Mondays rain or shine.  
>Naru flashed them her foxy grin, assuring them that there would be a prank for the ages today and she would be in the thick of it. They, not wanting to call down Iruka-sensei s wrath, chose wisely not to ask what the prank was.<p>

"I ll be back in a bit guys, I wanted to talk to Kiba about something." Naru said, jumping from her spot on the ground and running to the young Inuzuka.  
>Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but quickly chose to avoid any other action under the pretense of avoiding troublesome things. Naru usually didn t bother with Kiba as they always grated on each other s nerves. It was just another thing to file under troublesome things involving Naru Uzumaki .<p>

"Hey Kiba, I wanted to ask you something." Kiba looked up from where he d been having a quiet argument with his ninken Akamaru.  
>He was surprised to find it was Naru talking to him. Normally they avoided each other unless a large prank was involved. He knew today was Monday and he wondered if Naru wanted help with that day s big prank.<p>

"You need me to cause a distraction?" It wasn t like he didn t like her or her pranks, it was more that her lack of female subservient attitude that bothered him. She just seemed to remind him too much of his sister and mother for his own good.

"No, I wanted to ask you about your family's ninken." She said bashfully, wondering how she could make it sound like harmless curiosity.

"How do you train them exactly? Is it like people or is it different for animals?" Kiba was seriously wondering if today's prank was going to be on him, but he couldn't resist bragging about his family to anyone.  
>So he told her about the training for his family's canine companions being much the same as regular people's. Usually the animal depended on the training, as each one specialized in something. He told her about how tracking animals in the forest was a good way to help your ninken learn to keep track of a single scent.<p>

"The biggest thing to keep in mind is fighting styles though." He continued, sounding rather professional despite his original intention to brag.

"My family usually uses the Fanged style, which works for most canines, but there are others. That's pretty much all there is to it." He tried to think of any important details he may have missed, but he was still learning about that kind of stuff himself.

"You could always ask my mom or sister about it." He told her.

"They know more than me." He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

Naru thanked him for his help and went back over to her friends before the bell rang for all the students to come inside.  
>After the talk, Kiba was waiting impatiently for whatever prank Naru had rigged that day. He first thought that something would fall on Iruka-sensei s head when he walked in, but nothing happened.<br>He thought maybe she would have put glue or some tacks on his chair, again nothing. He began wondering if today s prank would be on the students and asked Akamaru to keep an eye out in case they were her target.

Truthfully, every student was waiting anxiously for the prank that would no doubt relieve them of their current boredom and have Naru lectured into a stupor.  
>Lunch time rolled around and people were starting to get a little panicky. Naru obviously had something big planned out and none of them were eager to see who today s target would be.<br>Needless to say, tensions were starting to run high.

All through the day though, it honestly appeared as though Naru was making an effort with her school work.  
>Naru doodled faithfully in her notebook. Some student sitting next to her tried to see what she was drawing but she had turned away from him and towards the wall.<br>In the final hour of the class, everyone was sweating bullets and waiting for the amazing trap to be sprung. Iruka had been so stressed he d given up on lecturing and was just trying to locate whatever prank Naru was planning in the hopes of getting it over with.

The final bell finally rang, causing everyone to jump from their seats screaming. Naru jumped at all the yells and looked around, wondering if they were under attack or something.  
>When the yells quieted down, every one converged to a single point. That single point being Naru Uzumaki to find out what the hell the prank was so they could leave already.<p>

"That was the genius of it!" Naru proclaimed loudly, her fist high in the air as he pumped it victoriously.

"I didn't do a single thing but you all thought I did, so you pranked yourselves!" It was anime face faults all around at her declaration before they all left before being added to the girl's to-prank list.  
>It was better safe than sorry after all.<p>

Naru made to leave the academy building but she hesitated at the door of the classroom. She turned nervously to see Iruka-sensei organizing his desk for the end of the day.  
>She was about to just leave but something held her back. She wanted to do good in class, but she couldn t unless she learned how to read.<br>Her decision made, she turned around and walked straight to her sensei before she could lose her nerve.

"Iruka-sensei, could I ask you for a favor?" Iruka turned to see Naru staring down at her feet, her text book clutched tightly in her arms.

"Could you teach me how to read?" He gasped in sudden realization at finally figuring out why Naru always refused to read aloud. He was shocked and disappointed in himself for ignoring such a huge problem and knew he wouldn t be able to sleep tonight unless he did something to help his student.

"I'd be happy to, when do you want to start?" He asked her, ruffling her blonde hair with his right hand. Naru grinned happily and asked him to come over to her house to start right away.  
>They ran outside, and hidden by the stairs of the building, Kisu watched before darting after them. He d waited patiently and now they were finally going home.<br>Naru left the door slightly ajar in order to allow Kisu inside without Iruka noticing as he got out his supplies on her kitchen table.

He was mildly surprised to find that her apartment wasn t nearly as messy as he pictured it. There was hardly any trash on the floor at all except a stray ramen cup that had probably missed the trash can that morning.  
>Iruka taught Naru the alphabet, thankful she at least could recite them aloud even if she couldn t recognize them on paper yet.<p>

After an hour she was able to at least recognize them, so he decided that was enough for the day. He was getting ready to leave when he noticed the fox sleeping on the counter of the kitchen.

"Aah!" He gasped, seeing the animal jump down, thinking it was a wild animal about to attack.

"Naru you have a wild animal in your apartment!" He pointed it out, putting an arm in front of the girl to try to protect her in case it got angry or something and pounced.

"Iruka-sensei that's my friend Kisu!" Naru cried, running around his outstretched arm to hug her fox friend to her chest.  
>Iruka gaped at the blonde girl and her chibi friend. Finally regaining control over his jaw he apologized to Naru, and at her insistence, Kisu as well.<p>

"So you're trying to train Kisu to be your ninken?" He asked, after a lengthy explanation. He really should not be surprised. This was Naru Uzumaki; it would be stranger if she was normal, even for a day.

"Yep!" She answered affirmatively.

"And we're going to kick major butt and all that good stuff!" She boasted happily, proud of her little friend even if he hadn't started training.  
>He had managed to not be noticed almost the whole day, and that took talent. Naru ought to know, it was a necessary survival skill for her.<p>

Later, Naru and Kisu decided to start his training and went to one of the academy training grounds. Kisu rode in her orange jacket in order to remain unseen.  
>They reached the training grounds pretty quickly and were happy to find one that no one else was using. Naru unzipped her jacket to let her little friend out and placed it off to the side.<p>

"Alright, first we have to unlock your chakra like Kiba said!" She declared, instructing her fuzzy friend on searching for his chakra and summoning it.  
>He found it after a little searching and then they began seeing about fighting styles. He couldn t use the fanged style as they did not know it, so they decided to make their own style. They decided to call it the Unpredictable-Foxy Style, at least until they could come up with something better.<p>

By time the sun had set, both little ninja-to-be were exhausted and panting. Kisu was laying spread eagled across Naru s stomach as she lay on her back on the cool grass trying to teach her lungs how to breathe.  
>Naru wearily picked up the tired fox and jacket and headed home. As she made her way through the dark streets, she kept a heavy eye out for any way ward villagers who may not be as understanding as Iruka-sensei.<p>

"Naru-sama, I smell a man following us." Kisu whispered from inside her jacket, which she'd bundled around him to keep him from being seen.  
>Naru tightened her grip around his middle to tell him she understood and began to skip so she could pick out the sound of the man s footsteps. She swung her head a little to each side and swayed a little to the left and right with each step.<br>The utter unpredictability of this gait was something Naru had conceived so it would be harder to sneak up on her. After all, it's harder to match someone s footsteps if that person is skipping all over the place.

She heard the scuff of a sandal on pavement, the quiet rustle as his pants legs rubbed against each other.  
>A man was following her, but he wasn't a shinobi. Shinobi know better than to make those sounds on hard packed dirt. The man tailing after her was a civilian, which gave her a small advantage. Just a small advantage, but it was all she needed.<br>Without any warning she took off in a dead sprint heading down an alley she knew had trash cans lined up so if one was going fast enough, they could use them to jump the ten foot high fence while knocking them down at the same time.  
>Naru did this easily and landed with a loud thump on the mattress on the other side. The sound of the tin cans crashing into each other and a man's curses filled the night air.<p>

"Thanks for the warning Kisu." She muttered quickly, keeping up a steady jog all the way back to her apartment through a roundabout way. She didn't want any more stalkers, thank you.  
>She unlocked the door and unraveled Kisu from inside his warm hiding place, setting about making some food for them both.<br>They had had a close call that night, and she wanted to thank him for helping her. It was only right.

"Naru-sama, I need to be stronger." Kisu startled her out of her thoughts with his sudden observation.

"This time you had to carry me, but next time, I want to run beside you." She turned to face her furry friend and saw a determination in his eyes akin only to her own. She smiled and nodded, showing him her determination as well.

"We ll both get stronger Kisu-kun." She promised.

"I'll be hokage, and you will be my dearest friend and guard." They ate together in relative silence afterwards. They thought of what they could do to be stronger, they thought of what they could do to play off the other s strengths.  
>They thought of things to come, and excitement flooded their bodies. The world wouldn t know what hit it.<p>

From then on, everyone began noticing a change in the blonde s demeanor. She was more focused, she pulled fewer pranks, though the ones she pulled were now much more sophisticated. She left behind her boring black shirt and tan shorts for a larger black sweater, blue jacket, and black ninja pants.  
>Her hair she let grow out and she gained a little more weight, enough to be considered healthy instead of sickly. She was changing into a confident kunoichi-to-be, and Iruka couldn t be prouder.<p>

"Naru, what caused this troublesome change?" Shika asked her one day as he watched clouds/her practice throwing kunai at a target. There was once a time she would have been lying next to him enjoying the peace, now it seemed she was all work and no goof.

"I made a new friend." She said evasively, taking a short break from her work out. Kisu wasn't with her that day, he was in another training ground practicing his aim with his claws when he pounced. None of her friends knew about Kisu yet, but she wanted them to. Still though, she thought it would be safer for Kisu to remain a secret for now.

"Why don t you join us?" Chouji suggested, holding out his bag of chips temptingly.

"You can't work your body into the ground you know. You need to relax too. My dad says we can only be kids once so we should enjoy it while it lasts." Naru seemed to think about the advice before deciding it was sound and taking her friends up on their offer.

"Naru you haven't pulled a prank in forever!" Kiba whined from where he d been practicing Dynamic Marking with Akamaru.

"I miss those amusing little traps you rigged up! No one can out do you, you know." Naru's chest puffed out a bit at the praise before deciding to let her doggy friend in on a nice prank she was planning for.

"I am currently plotting the biggest prank to ever have the pleasure of adorning our fair village." She indulged, laying out her observations about the ANBU patrols around the Hogake monuments.

"Really the only thing stopping me is the fact that I can't afford enough paint." She lamented.

"I've been saving up but it might take me a while to get enough to color one of the faces!"

Elsewhere, Kisu was currently snacking on a bird he had caught. His aim and speed were definitely improving if the young bird he was eating was any consolation. He paused to think of the Unpredictable-Foxy Style he and Naru had been practicing. They worked best when the movements were haphazard and relied primarily on wit to keep ahead of their opponents.  
>The only major problems were communication with each other without tipping off the enemy about which move they intended to use next.<br>That and of course the name, which they still had yet to think of.

He had had enough practicing and he decided to go see how Naru-sama was coming along. She had been practicing with those throwing knives lately and was having difficulty making the awkward objects go where she directed them.  
>He found her talking to her friends and decided to explore a bit more. He walked a few meters away and found the girl, Hinata, being bullied by some academy students. His hackles rose at the unfair odds and he rushed to go get his mistress.<br>He burst from the bushes, surprising everyone present. Kisu raced straight for Naru and began tugging her to the next clearing where Hinata had begun to cry.

"Kisu what s wrong?" Naru asked him, following him as he led her to Hinata. Naru saw the problem immediately and threw all her kunai at the ground around the older boys feet.  
>They gasped and turned around, expecting to see a ninja but finding only a bunch of younger academy students.<br>Naru was unaware that her friends had followed her, but she would soon be thankful.

"You jerks, picking on somebody smaller than you!" Naru yelled, putting away her kunai and rushing the first boy. As she used her element of surprise to punch him hard in the gut she screamed.

"I'll teach you to mess with others!" She drop kicked the second boy before he could react and Kisu charged the third and final boy, jumping from her outstretched arm to his and biting down hard.

"How do you like being beaten by the little guy?" She taunted them, wiping her hands off as the boys ran away.  
>The first boy she had punched picked up one of her previously thrown kunai and charged at her unguarded back. Before he could bury the knife up to its hilt he was attacked again by the remaining boys who had followed the girl there.<br>Naru heard the loud thump of him falling to the ground and turned to see Kiba sitting on top of the guy, Chouji holding down his arms and legs, and Shika scowling down at the coward.

Kisu looked around her legs to see the sight as well and felt happy his mistress had such loyal and strong friends to help her.  
>He felt bad about being forced to reveal his presence to them when Naru had asked him not to.<br>Naru turned back to Hinata, who was still sobbing on the ground and nursing a few bruises. She walked over to the young Hyuga and gave her a comforting hug, trying to calm her down.

"Hinata-chan don't cry." Naru whispered encouraging.

"Don t worry if those punks try to mess with you again I ll beat them back down harder than ever!" Hinata looked up to the blonde s face and asked why she had helped her. No one had ever bothered to except for the branch members of her family so she was confused by it.

"Those guys were just bullies and it s wrong to gang up on someone like that!" Naru explained passionately as she watched the last of the boys escape her friends and run away.

After a few minutes the group had garnered a quick friendship and was just starting to forget about the cruel attack when a man appeared.

"Hinata-sama are you alright?" The man was tempted to attack the demon brat who was dangerously close to his charge but chose not to because of the presence of the other clan heads' heirs.  
>He felt his unprovoked attack on her person would be questioned by the young academy students and he didn t want to be accused of breaking the Sandaime s law.<p>

"Yes I am, thanks to Naru-chan, Kiba-kun, Shikamaru-kun, and Chouji-kun." Kisu thankfully had not been seen by the Hyuga heiress, and since he wasn t within immediate sight, the man did not notice the fox hiding behind the roots of a tree.

"Come, we should get you home." The branch member said tersely. Hinata nodded sadly and left her friends with promises to see them at the academy the next day.  
>When the two had left, Naru s friends decided to question her about Kisu.<p>

'!  
>LC; Okay, that was awesome and long.<br>Naruto; Usually you go for at least 3,500 words for a long chapter.  
>LC; I'm trying to up my expectations.<br>Sasuke; You don't use word, how are you counting all those words?  
>LC; I have one word to say to that. Annoying! I hope you people appreciate my troubles to give you something to read!<br>Kakashi; Hmm? I think this is the first time I've ever been here.  
>LC; Yeah, usually I pull Sakura here when in need of a third guy. Weird, why are you here?<br>Kakashi;...I don't know. *Pulls out porn* Tee Hee!


	2. trust

LC; Okay, this is another chap of Spiraling Vixen!

Naruto; Yeah yeah yeah, let's just get this over with.

LC; Fine count grumpy pants!

Naruto; I'm a little tired of all the femnaru to be honest.

LC; Well to bad because femnaru is awesome therefore I must write about it!

Sasuke; It's better than fem me.

LC; Do you see? Sasuke agrees with me! I tried to make a femsasu but it turned out crappish!

Naruto; Well, as beautiful a guy he makes he is butt ugly as a girl, so I guess I can grin and bear it.

LC; 'Atta boy!

Sasuke; *Grumble grumble*

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto in any way shape manner or form! Stop bugging me! It's getting hard to come up with something original to put here! God this is boring!

Chapter 2; Start of Something New, the Dastardly Fox?

"Where'd the fox come from Naru?" Chouji asked quietly. It had come out of nowhere, and somehow, Naru had been able to understand it and knew it was trying to tell her something.  
>Now that the Hyuga were gone, it seemed the appropriate time to get answers. Answers would be very much appreciated at the moment.<p>

Naru picked Kisu up from where he was sitting against her legs and sat down on the ground. She should have known she couldn't keep it hidden.  
>It had only been a matter of time.<p>

"Kisu followed me home when I was in the forest one day. I'm training him to be a ninken now." She turned to Kiba.

"That's why I asked you about your clan's ninken because I didn't know how to do it right." Kiba nodded, it made sense after all.  
>Though he wondered why not just ask his mom or sister, they knew more on the actual style than he did. He asked as much, but got a cryptic answer.<p>

"I wasn't sure how they'd react since foxes aren't very well liked."

The group had disbanded for a while afterwards and Naru and Kisu were walking home. Since the streets were deserted the little kit was walking by his mistress' side.  
>The kit raised his head and gave a sideways glance to the afore mentioned blonde. She carried her head high and walked with an inherent grace usually unseen in her age group.<br>While her body was not without filth and her clothes not well kept, she walked as a princess in her palace would. He was proud to be of use to her.

More days passed, the dynamic duo trained from dawn until dusk in their techniques, both determined to be as good as they could be.  
>Naru spent her day improving in any aspects she was lacking. She was getting better at reading though still behind her classmates. She had managed to make the Unpredictable-Foxy style more fluid, easier to use in short, but didn't use it with the academy since she couldn't explain where she'd learned it.<br>Her test scores remained much the same but at least now she answered a few of them and did most of the homework.

Eventually it turned into October, today would be the ninth. Naru did not leave her apartment, she spent the whole day trying to think of a place to hide for the next day.  
>As she kept a look out by her window she couldn't help but let her mind wander to the conversation held a few days previously with her friends.<p>

"Hey Naru why don't we all meet up in front of Ichiraku's to go to the Kyubi festival?" Kiba had asked her.

"Sorry, but I'm not going." Naru had told them sadly. She wished she could, but that day landed on her birthday and she knew how dangerous it was for her on her birthday.  
>She didn't want to drag her friends into her troubles. She still had never let them in her apartment because she lived in the bad side of the village and it was always covered in graffiti.<p>

"Why not, it's not that troublesome." One guess as to who.

"I just don't like going around big crowds." She answered defensively. She knew Shikamaru was too smart for his own good but he usually gave up after she got stubborn.

"Oh well, guess we'll see you around then." Chouji had said, sounding rather disappointed at not getting to have fun with their best female pal.  
>While Hinata had unofficially been adopted into their little group, Naru was considered irreplaceable. They didn't have a leader, they were just friends, but without her it didn't feel right.<p>

Naru shook her head to get herself out of the memory and thought of something she should have earlier. Why not hide in the forest?  
>She could take Kisu to visit his family while she was at it! He did miss them, even though he denied it all the time when she asked. It would be nice for him to see them again she was sure.<p>

"Kisu, I know where we're going!" She announced excitedly, running down the hall to find her furry friend in his bed taking a cat nap.

"We're going to the forest where we first met!" She told him about her idea. Kisu admitted that it would be nice to see his little pack again, and they hurried to leave.  
>Now that it was dark, there was less of a chance of being attacked. Naru didn't want anything to go wrong, but the plans of mice and men hardly come to fruition. This would forever be a prime example.<p>

It started innocently enough, just the two of them jogging down the road heading to the outskirts. It was not meant to be.  
>Just at the gate, two shinobi had just entered, home from another long term mission. They both bore the distinctive characteristics of the Uchiha and were brothers, twins really. As they took to the ninja highway in the roof tops, they spotted the young blonde enigma from above.<p>

"Isn't that the Kyubi brat?" One questioned his brother. The other man smirked and nodded. An understanding passed through them and they began to plot the girl's down fall.

"And she's travelling with a fox, has she no shame!" The younger brother growled. That had just sealed the kid's fate.  
>She was dead.<p>

Naru didn't know what it was that warned her but she was damn glad she had it. They had almost reached the tree line when she got a message ordering her to duck down.  
>She tackled Kisu out of the line of fire for a dozen kunai and barely got by with nothing but a nick herself. She looked up to where the attack had come from and was startled to see two village shinobi.<p>

"Why are you attacking me!" She asked them angrily. "I'm from Konoha too!"

"Be quiet Kyubi brat, we're putting you out of everyone's misery!" The elder brother yelled, jumping down. He would not be satisfied with killing her from a distance, he wanted to feel her heart stop in his hands.  
>His brother followed closely from behind.<p>

Naru didn't understand why they hated her so much, but she knew she couldn't let them kill Kisu. He was the first person to acknowledge, even if he was an animal.  
>She wasn't going to lose him.<p>

For the most part she took the beating in silence, shielding her fox friend with her own body. Even when blood was hacked from her throat she refused to scream.  
>Kisu shook in her arms, trying to soothe her pain and break free at once. How dare they mistreat her like this for no reason! He wanted to hear <em>them<em> scream for what they were doing to his friend!

Without any warning Naru was picked up by the front of her shirt by one of the nameless brothers. His sharingan was active and he was glaring at her with all the hate he could muster.

"Do you want to know why you are hated, demon?" He asked rhetorically. "It's because you are the Kyubi, who after being beaten, took on the form of a human."  
>He didn't get to say anything more as a kunai imbedded itself deep in his skull as soon as the sentence slipped out of his filthy mouth.<p>

Naru fell underneath the body but made no attempts to free herself. She was in shock from her injuries and the news that had just been revealed to her.  
>She registered an Anbu with a dog mask and silver hair that she just <em>knew<em> was glaring at the still living brother. All she could think of though, was that it all made a sort of sick sense.

"For breaking the Sandaime's law I will happily execute you." 'And I better do it quickly; Naru's not looking too hot.' The masked shinobi stated.  
>He dispatched the gaping man and quickly moved the cooling corpse from the girl before running some damage control and healing the worse of her wounds.<p>

"Don't worry; I'll get you some help." He said soothingly, taking the shaking girl into his arms. Someone had messed with the schedule so that the Anbu guarding over her would have gaps between their shifts.  
>Now, with a mere thirty minute gap, she'd nearly died. If Kakashi ever found out who it was that messed up the shifts, he'd make sure they'd regret it.<br>He'd never forgive himself if she had died.

He picked her up as gently as he could when he heard something growling at him. He turned his head slightly to see a small fox glaring at him.  
>He raised an eyebrow when the creature jumped on top of the girl but did not remove it. He had seen the fox following her around when he had been on guard duty for her, so he knew it wasn't a danger.<p>

He carried her to the hospital, knowing the hokage would be waiting there for them. Upon arriving he made sure she got a good room before going inside with the Sandaime.

"This is awful, that my own shinobi would stoop so low." Hiruzen sighed, blowing smoke from his pipe.

"Hokage-sama, would it be possible for me to formerly take her in now?" Kakashi asked, having changed from his Anbu gear.

"If you still want to bring up the Anbu issue I should inform you I have already completed the mandatory two years and am able to retire to be a regular jounin." He continued.

"We will see what she thinks, and if she agrees, she will move onto the Hatake compound with you." He then turned to the little fox lying on the bed next to the sleeping child.

"I wonder where she met such a creature as this fox." As though knowing they were talking about it, the fox turned to them and made a strange mewling noise, tilting it's head and looking pointedly at the girl.  
>It almost seemed like the kit was asking if she was going to be alright.<p>

"She's been training him to be her ninken; I believe she calls him Kisu." Kakashi said slowly, shrugging to the fox. "Her wounds should heal, but I wonder about the ones done to her mind." He was speaking to the fox, but Hiruzen replied.

"I had hoped to tell her after she made chunin." He revealed. "And her heritage when she turned eighteen or became a jounin, whichever happened first."

"Is it really better, making her wonder why she is hated?" Kakashi questioned. He didn't like seeing the girl's sad expression, her confusion, whenever one of the villagers tossed her out of their store.  
>He hated it even, but he knew he couldn't do anything unless it directly endangered her life.<br>He hated it.

The two stood in silence until the door suddenly banged open. Kakashi had replaced his mask and turned to apprehend the intruder until he realized it was Tsume Inuzuka and her son, a boy named Kiba.

"Kiba this is a hospital! You can visit your friend during visiting hours!" Tsume was barking following her son to try to prevent any damage to the patient he was so insistent on visiting.

"We're here now, why leave to come back later?" He countered, already at the bed.

"What happened to her!" He gasped. He seemed to notice the presence of the hokage for the first time and turned around, chuckling nervously.

"Naru was attacked by two shinobi." The Sandaime revealed to the young Inuzuka. "She'll make a full recovery in a few days or so, don't worry."

Kiba didn't seem willing to accept the explanation. He had noticed how the hokage did not mention what _villages_ the two shinobi were from but he could hazard a guess.  
>He caught a glimpse of Kisu sitting behind him from his peripheral vision and relaxed a little. He knew enough about the little fox that he would not be so comfortable if these guys were hiding something. Naru would probably tell him when she woke up anyway.<p>

"Alright Kiba, you saw your pack mate, let's get going now!" Tsume ordered, pulling her son to the door. "My apologies lord hokage, he was worried when he heard two nurses talking about the pup."  
>The two left, their ninken barking behind their feet as they hurriedly caught up.<p>

"That was interesting to say the least, eh Kakashi?" Sarutobi mentioned when the two chakra signatures had faded.

"It was, unexpected." He answered hesitantly. He had been so caught up in thoughts of the past he hadn't noticed them coming down the hall.  
>It was a little embarrassing for the copy cat ninja Kakashi Hatake.<p>

**Within Naru's Mindscape!**

_What was this place? Naru stood in ankle deep water, wondering if those two shinobi had tossed her in here to die, and how she was alive.  
>She had more pressing matters though. She had to find Kisu! Was he hurt? Worse, was he dead? She couldn't have failed him! She called but her pleas seemed to only bounce off the dark walls and back to her.<br>She didn't like this place, she wanted out!_

"_Kisu! Kiba! Akamaru! Shika! Chouji! Anybody!" She called out desperately. She ran down the tunnels looking for an exit, for a light at the end of the tunnel.  
>She didn't want out anymore, she <em>needed_ out! She needed out now!_

"**Your panicking gaki." **_A voice called from down another dark hall. Naru felt her fear rise to whole new levels. In every human there is a moment in their lives when they experience this feeling, the flight or fight rush of adrenaline in their veins.  
>Shinobi felt this many times throughout their career. This would be Naru's first time.<em>

"**Follow the sound of my voice gaki, and you will finally be answered the questions of your soul."**_ That sounded like the opposite of good, but she couldn't stay there.  
>Without knowing how she knew, she realized that all the different halls would inevitably lead to the same destination. They would lead to wherever it was this ancient and evil voice resided.<em>

_She followed the voice, feeling more and more like she was in some cliché horror flick but not knowing what else to do.  
>She rounded another corner and came face to face with a door. It was made of solid iron and had a sign hanging on it. She almost expected it to say <em>'Abandon all hope ye who enter here'_ but it didn't, much to her relief.  
>It said only <em>'Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust, I give you my power, to make these bars rust.' _Somehow, that was worse than the former option._

_She entered through the large door and came to find herself in a room. The roof went up so high, she could not see where it ended, pipes hung on the walls, glowing red.  
>On the opposite side of the room, where another wall should have been, was a cage. The bars stretched high and were all in pristine condition. Half way up on the bars was a small slip of paper, even so, Naru could read it as though it were before her face.<em>

"_Seal?" She read slowly, unsure of her kanji._

"**Hehehe, so this is my vessel. A frightened girl with the talent of a rock."**_ She saw it. It was not human. If anything, she decided it was a demon, and she already knew which one._

"_Kyubi no Kitsune, the nine tailed fox, really is sealed inside of me." She said slowly, her eyes widening even as she tried to think of something to dispute it.  
>This was a major cluster fuck if ever she saw one. She should have known the Heavens hated her, from all that had already happened, but one would think they'd take pity on a child.<em>

'_**She's taking this better than my last vessel already.'**__ The fox noted and filed this away for later. He could deal with this human the same as he tried to deal with all the others.  
>Before his vessels had all known the risk they would take and had been old enough to say no when he was sealed within them. Now though, he had an honest chance at convincing this brat to listen to him.<br>He would get his revenge._

**Back in the real world!**

The two only stood for ten more minutes before Naru began to stir on the bed. They leaned forward a little and waited with baited breath as the girl turned over in her sleep.  
>Naru opened her eyes and blearily wiped away the sleep only to see the hokage and an Anbu standing right in front of her.<p>

"How are you feeling Naru-chan?" Hiruzen asked the majorly confused girl. Why was she in the hospital? She thought back to the last thing she remembered, which was jogging to the forest.  
>With sudden clarity she recalled what had transpired after the two Konoha shinobi had attacked her. She had learned what she was.<p>

"_It's because you are the Kyubi, who after being beaten, took on the form of a human." _It all made sense.  
>The glares, the hatred, everything she'd ever been subjected to, made sense!<p>

"I have the Kyubi no Kitsune sealed inside me." She said, her eye twitching. She didn't hate very many things, but the one thing she did, she hated above all else.  
>She hated when facts directly concerning her were hidden from her purposely. If it directly affected her, she wanted to know damnit!<p>

"You never told me." Sarutobi sighed and blew a long drawl of smoke at the ceiling. He had to admit, she was taking it better than he had thought, but she had now, whether intentionally or not, directed the conversation so it seemed he was to blame.  
>He supposed he was, but it still forced a pang of guilt to climb up and down his spine when she said it.<p>

"We did not tell you in the hopes that you could have a normal child hood." He tried to explain. He admitted, even to him it sounded like a weak argument.

"Yeah, and when that failed!" She growled, gathering her furry friend in her arms and staring with a steely gaze at the old hokage.  
>A child should not have those eyes. The eyes of one who had seen the worst side humanity had to offer.<p>

"It was better for you not to know." He knew he was digging himself a hole but he did not know how to climb his way out.

"And my parents!" The girl put up a variable attack with her words and expression of betrayal.

"They had powerful enemies who would try to get revenge despite them both being dead." Even as the two talked, in another room of the hospital, a room unknown to all but a few, something twitched.

_Flashback!_

_Minato stood atop Gamabunta as he stared down the greatest of all the demons. What he was about to attempt would have a high chance of going sideways but he knew no other option.  
>He looked down at the bundle in his arms, the happy blonde infant that gurgled up at him from the folds of the cover.<em>

"_Maybe someday you can forgive me, Naru-chan." Something landed beside him and he turned to greet his sensei and the Sandaime._

"_Minato what are the chances of survival?" Jiraya questioned him breathlessly. He had run from all the way on the other side of the village, and coupled with chakra exhaustion, he was worn out._

"_It's a fifty-fifty coin toss the way I see it." He answered with a forced grin. "If I do this right I'll end up in a coma for anywhere between five to ten years. If I do it wrong, well, Naru will have to grow up with neither of her parents." It was small, but it was his only hope at being able to take care of their daughter like he'd promised Kushina._

_Flashback End!_

Now in the darkest recesses of the hospital, a blonde man's hand twitched as the first inklings of wakefulness made themselves known.

All those old enough to have been shinobi knew the Yondaime was in a coma, but none had dared speak of it. They knew that doing so would provoke their enemies into attacking.  
>The reason was easy for them all to see. If their enemies knew that there was a chance of the yellow flash waking up, they would kill him.<br>It was a well kept secret, better even than that of the village's jinchuriki.

When news of the demon's death had reached the ears of the populace, they had wanted to see their kage naturally.  
>Hiruzen did not declare him dead; neither did he declare him living. Most of the village's assumed their hero had perished, others simply accepted it after he did not make himself known to them.<br>That was about to change though. The fourth hokage, Minato Namikaze, the yellow flash, was waking up!

Hiruzen thought he could have handled that better. He watched as the miraculously healed six year old unrolled the bandages, picked up her friend, and walked out of the room.  
>He knew that he had made many mistakes, and he knew that he had just made another. He let her walk out.<p>

By now the day of the Kyubi Festival had dawned and the inhabitants of the village were setting up for the festival later that night.  
>Normally so much as seeing the girl out on this day was enough to warrant an attack, however today they held off. The girl was emitting killing intent so potent even the civilians could feel it.<br>It was not a lot, but it was powerful.

In the underground room of the hospital Sarutobi thought of past mistakes before his successor. He wanted to confess his mistakes but he wanted to do it privately.  
>So he had sought out the only one who could hear his faults but not call him on them or down play them.<p>

"I've made a mess of things, haven't I Minato-kun?" He asked the motionless corpse. "I believe I have lost what trust Naru-chan had in me."

He didn't know what to think when the hand twitched in response to the name of his daughter. The thump of his pipe hitting the floor echoed through the catacombs of the secret floor.

Naru slammed the door behind her as she stomped into her apartment. Her whole aura read 'pissed off, come close at own risk'.  
>She was so angry she knew she was close to taking <em>its<em> chakra. She would not do that though, she'd read that sign. She'd rather the bars holding that thing back stayed nice and strong.  
>So she forced herself to calm down and think.<p>

"Naru-sama, are you alright?" Kisu was confused. None of the humans had explained to him what all that talk meant and he wanted to know, but was afraid to ask.  
>He'd never seen Naru as angry as she did at that moment. He should not have been afraid.<p>

Naru explained it all to him. She told him of the entire conversation with the Kyubi. She told him of all her hurt that such information that should have been her birth right was held back.  
>She expressed the sorrows and pain that were normally bottled up. She cried in front of him, and somehow he knew, they'd grown closer.<p>

"We have to leave now Kisu." Many hours had passed and it was getting late. The Sun would be setting in an hour.

"The fox told me of something pretty interesting, so I want to see if it's true." She led them to the forest, and this time they got there with no interruption.  
>They paused momentarily at the spot where they had been attacked, but there were no signs that street had seen anything remotely as interesting as her getting beat up before.<p>

The bypassed Kisu's old den completely, heading to the heart of the forest, the place where the Shodaime had first used the jutsu that gave the village its name.  
>By the time they reached the oldest tree in the most remote of the village's many forests, the Sun had long since set and the moon raised.<p>

"A shrine to the fox goddess Inari is here." Naru said solemnly. They walked up to the tree, and down the stairs that appeared.  
>It felt as though the two had been walking for hours, but was probably minutes, when they came to a chamber. Inside, many candles were lit and a shrine stood in the center of the room. On the altar of the shrine lay a large scroll.<p>

"**To have come here you must be worthy."** Naru gasped and turned around to see a large golden fox sitting at the foot of the stairs they had just descended.

"**I am Inari, goddess of the forest and protector of the wild things."** The fox nodded to them respectively. **"I know you are known as Naru Uzumaki and your companion Kisu, no need for formalities. I have come here for a reason young Uzumaki."**

"Goddess, I came at the advice of the nine tailed demon fox, who claimed if I could make it here I could carry the fox contract." Naru said shakily.  
>She was facing a goddess, a force of nature who if she had taken it into her mind, could kill them with one swipe of her tail.<p>

"**And have it you shall, my kit." **Inari seemed to smile, though her face did not change. **"I merely wanted to offer you something."**

"Offer me something other than the contract?" Naru gasped. "I-I'm not sure I'm worthy!"

"**My kit you, over any other, are worthy." **She suddenly seemed to grow sad. **"You see, we gods and goddesses are unable to interfere directly with the mortal realm. We are however, allowed to deign certain mortals as our messengers so to speak. I need help you see, for a dark time is coming. A dark malice threatens this Earth, my domain and I need you to stop it. He has lived for many years and it is he you must one day defeat in order to save the world. His name is Madara."**

The goddess continued to explain why Naru was chosen. She was chosen for her untainted soul, her connections with the foxes, and her devious nature.  
>She explained how Naru's innate good will and underlying deviousness made her what she deemed, a human Kitsune.<br>It probably helped she had a demon fox sealed away within her, though it was not mentioned. Finally, she explained her new powers.

"**Sign the contract kit, and they will fight by your side in your quest and help in all your endeavors." **Inari informed her. **"I pray for your success and hope to hear from you soon."**  
>The great fox goddess vanished in a sudden explosion of light.<p>

Naru walked over to the scroll and found a fox shaped golden pendant lying on it. The eyes were like rubies, but the body was gold.  
>She strung it around her neck and unraveled the scroll. On it, one name was written. Madara Uchiha. The strangest thing about the name, was that it appeared to have something written above it.<br>'Canceled.'

Biting her thumb, Naru inscribed her named neatly and placed the fingertips of the hand used below it. Nodding to herself in satisfaction, she picked up the scroll, tying it to her back, and motioned for Kisu to follow her.  
>Neither would speak of this night to anyone for years to come.<p>

Shikamaru was wandering the crowded streets after his pal Chouji had left to go home. He would head home soon too but for now he was just walking around.  
>He had just decided he'd had enough of all the troublesome noise when he saw a flash of yellow and red running past him. He instinctively knew it was Naru and Kisu and decided to follow them. He remembered Naru saying she didn't come to the festival, so he was confused as to why she was there.<p>

He followed her to a park where she and Kisu apparently stopped to catch their breath. They hadn't noticed him and he chose to keep it that way.  
>He saw the large scroll on her back and wondered what it was. He could see the word Kitsune on it and could vaguely make out the word summoning but that was all. Did she have a summoning contract with foxes?<p>

In the end he let them go home alone and went to his own house. Something about it seemed strange to him. He had caught a glimpse of her eyes, and they had startled him.  
>Her eyes were no longer the shining sky blue they'd always been; now they seemed clouded. He didn't know what was wrong with his friend or how to make it better. He lost a lot of sleep that night.<p>

At Naru's apartment she and Kisu talked about all that had happened. She could hardly believe it all and a small part of her wished it was all a dream, a horrible bad dream.  
>Finding out she was the jinchuriki to the nine tailed fox wasn't bad enough, she also met the same fox and from it learned of her heritage, to top it all off the one man she'd always trusted broke that trust and she met a goddess and got a summoning contract.<br>Why was her life so screwed like this? What did she do to deserve the gods' wrath? Maybe in a past life she was a mass murderer or something.

"I don't know what to do Kisu." She sighed, staring at the scroll she had leaned against the wall as she ate some supper at her kitchen table.

"I don't think there's anything to do other than what we have been doing." He said wisely.

"I think all we can do is keep moving forward, but be more careful who we trust." Naru nodded at the logic and decided to think of all the things she knew and what she wanted to learn.  
>Somehow, she knew it was going to be a long six years before she could become a genin.<p>

_In The Hospital Basement!_

A shaky figure sat up in his bed and groaned in pain as body parts that had not moved in years were stretched.  
>The Sandaime could only stare dumbly at the figure that now showed more signs of life than he had in six years. Six long years of coming down here and seeing his sleeping successor.<p>

"Minato."

END OF CHAPTER NOW SO GO AWAY!

LC; Finally!

Naruto; Whoa, you got in a lot in this chapter.

LC; I like to think I'm adding some suspenseful flavor to my work.

Sasuke; Flavor, right.

LC; What was that Mr. emo?

Sasuke; Nothing, just your idea of flavor tends to be torturing your readers.

LC; Oh well, what doesn't kill you the first time usually succeeds in the second attempt!

Naruto; What does that have to do with anything.

LC; It doesn't I just thought it was a cool quote. SPONGEBOB!


	3. family

LC; Okay welcome back readers!

Naruto; You've talked with us about almost every topic under the sky.

Sasuke; What's left to talk about?

LC;...I found out that there is actually a church for a flying spagetti monster and it's accepted as a religion.

Naruto; A flying monster of noodles?

Sasuke; The perfect god for Naruto Uzumaki.

LC; That's what I thought when I read about it! Why would someone make a religion around it though?

Sasuke; Maybe they're addicted to noodles like Naruto?

LC; This suggestion warrents pondering. *Goes to thinking rock*

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto or the religion for noodles. Did I even spell spagetti right?

Chapter 3; Lost and found, the fox's greatest deciept!

Minato's head felt foggy, like he'd been asleep for a long time but the Sun had seen fit to wake him.  
>Only strange thing was that he couldn't even feel the Sun's rays and he appeared to be in some kind of hospital bed. Next to him was the shocked face of Sandaime-sama who was wearing the hokage robes.<p>

"What happened?" His voice sounded harsh and his first attempts at speaking were interrupted by coughing.  
>It was like he hadn't spoken in a long time.<p>

"Minato-kun, do you remember what happened?" Hiruzen asked hesitantly. He hoped he at least remembered that the man had a daughter.  
>Otherwise this was going to be awkward.<p>

Minato looked innocently at Sarutobi before his eyes grew wide and he remembered the Kyubi attack.  
>He recalled seeing his beloved so weak and fraile, soon to die, and how his beautiful little girl had cried when he sealed the demon away. He remembered it all.<p>

"Where is she? Where's Naru?" This was going to be a long night.

The Sun rose just as it always did the next day and with it so did Naru and Kisu. Before the great ball of fire's gaze could reach them the duo were at the training grounds practicing their unique style.  
>Naru had finally found a name for it.<p>

"Alright, now to get back to perfecting the newly christened Trickster's Dance taijutsu style!" Naru declared to her furry friend.  
>Kisu nodded and they set to work to find a pace that worked for them. When Naru bent forward to avoid an invisible enemy's thrust Kisu used her back as a diving board to pounce upon the enemy.<p>

When time came for the academy to start, for the first time since joining her, Kisu came with her into the building.  
>Many students gave her weird looks and commented about her picking up dirty strays but they studiously ignored them in favor of going to sit with her friends.<p>

"Hey guys!" Naru greeted them joyfully. Shikamaru looked away from the clouds floating past and grunted his own greeting.  
>It would be too troublesome to add anything else. The message got across anyway.<p>

"Naru, your out of the hospital already?" Kiba had glimpsed the blonde and run over to his runaway buddies.

"How'd you know?" Naru asked curiously. She didn't know anyone had visited her.

"My mom and I visited you when we were there visiting my sister. I heard from these two nurses you had been attacked by these weird shinobi." He wanted to ask her about the attack but wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it.

"Oh yeah, not one of my best nights." Naru said sheepishly.

"Who were they?" He asked.

"I'm not sure, I was too busy trying to shield kisu because they wanted to kill him first. I didn't get a really good look at them except for their eyes." Naru shivered unconciously.

"What was wrong with their eyes?" Chouji asked. He hated that someone had hurt his friend! Next to him Hinata was showing the world one of the few Hinata-glares.  
>One did not mess with the young Hyuga heir's friends.<p>

"They had red eyes with these three black things in them." She described. It had actually freaked her out a little at the time.

"That sounds like the Uchiha clan's sharingan." Shikamaru muttered. As one the group turned their heads to look at Sasuke Uchiha where he was sitting next to a window.

"Did they get arrested at least?" Kiba asked, a subtle growl indicating what he would do if they got off scott free.

"Actually I think they're dead." Naru murmured, looking away from the depressing Uchiha boy. He always acted so much better than the rest of them.  
>She wished she could wipe that smug grin off his face!<p>

"Well so long as your fine." Shikamaru sighed.

"Why do so many troublesome things happen around you?" He asked her. Naru couldn't decide if the question was serious or a joke.

"I don't know. I guess it's cause I hate it when things are boring!" She said cheerfully. If only she realized her life was about to make a turn for the interesting in a few short hours.

Minato looked over the village from the Hokage office windows. It had changed so much yet so little.  
>The paint on the buildings was a little darker, but they had all been rebuilt. Children played on the streets and people went about their daily lives. Somewhere in the village, at the academy, his daughter was studying to be a great shinobi in her own right.<p>

"Minato-kun you shouldn't over exert yourself." Sarutobi warned him from across the desk. Minato stole a brave glimpse at the desk and figured his old nemesis looked as unbeatable as ever.

"I've been asleep for six years, you can't blame me for wanting to get back up again!" He cried disbelievingly.

"Which reminds me, who all knows about my little nap?" He joked, half serious half not.

"Anyone who was already a ninja at the time and everyone above chunin level rank now." Sarutobi reported. He was rather proud that his shinobi had kept the secret so well that no one outside their gates knew it.

"Minato-kun, things have been far from easy while you slept." He'd told of Naru's situation, but there were many other problems.

Some problems for instance concerning the Uchiha clan and a certain crippled council member. At that moment, looking at the young blonde kage sitting in his chair, Hiruzen felt every one of his seventy nine years.

Minato listened with a stony face as the old shinobi before him told him everythat had transpired.  
>He'd have to do something about this. He didn't mean any offense to the old man, even within his own mind, but he was too old to rule properly. He was too tired.<p>

"It looks like I have my word cut out for me." He muttered. He'd have to make some serious changes to protect his village.  
>It looked like it might be a little while before he could meet his daughter again. He only hoped she wouldn't hate him too much. He hoped he could make it up to her someway.<p>

"I'll have to make up some plans, but first I want to meet this Itachi fellow." He said imperiously.  
>Sarutobi raised an eye brow at that but went to follow out his commands.<p>

'Wait a little longer Naru-chan, daddy's got some work to do in the office.' He thought sadly, gazing at the imposing stacks of paper.

'Kami give me strength.' Why did the strongest of the village's ninja have to do all the paperwork again? He'd gone from killing machine on the battlefield to a politician!

Minato paused in his work as he thought that one through.

'There's a difference?' Minato was really starting to hate this job.

Itachi had always admired the Yondaime. He had been his hero in day's past and that had not changed as he slumbered in a jutsu caused coma.  
>He'd trained in order to become ANBU so that when the hokage woke up he could be of use to him and be near his hero. Today he would get to formally meet him!<p>

Itachi walked into the office wearing his new ANBU armor, having recently joined before his brother had joined the academy.  
>His mask was that of the crow.<p>

"Yondaime-sama, it's a pleasure to see you awake and aware." He greeted, kneeling before the blonde legend.

"Rise crow, and remove your mask Itachi." He ordered softly, wanting to gaze into the eye of this young Uchiha.

Itachi did as he was ordered and hesitantly looked up into the hokage's own eyes. It felt as though he was looking into Itachi's very soul with his piercing gaze.  
>He suddenly found himself very happy that this man was not an Uchiha or his sharingan would no doubt make him freeze in fear.<p>

"I want your opinion on your clan's recent movements against the village." He declared. He did not have to order the young child to tell him, he just had to say what he wanted.  
>Itachi found his respect for the man reaching an even higher level.<p>

"Yes Yondaime-sama." He told of how the clan was unhappy about being confined a single area and about the subtle accusations that the Uchiha clan was to blame for the Kyubi attack. He didn't leave a single detail out, giving everything that was asked and more.

"Do all of them feel this way or are there still some loyal to me?" Minato asked after getting the full story.  
>It was only through sheer willpower that he did not allow his stomach to growl, reminding him he hadn't had ramen in so long.<p>

"The younger generation do not know of the plans at all. I only know because of my rank." Itachi informed him.  
>He prayed this wouldn't lead to where he thought it was leading.<p>

"Itachi, when you go home today I want you to tell your father that I'm awake and have my eye on them and wish a meeting." Minato drawled, looking out the window to where the Sun said it was noon.

"Tell him I know who it was that started the Kyubi attack and I know he and his clan are innocent." When he didn't say anything else, Itachi took his leave.  
>He was surprised by the order, but was glad as well. Perhaps his family could still be salvaged.<p>

"Oh and Itachi," The young remasked ANBU paused at the door.

"If you see Kakashi would you tell him he should get here as soon as possible and not to be late?" Itachi felt a smirk cover his face against his will and nodded his assent.  
>Things were going to be interesting around here again.<p>

Itachi first went to the monument where he knew Kakashi always was around noon. Sure enough there was his commander, the only non-Uchiha to have the sharingan.  
>Another shinobi Itachi respected.<p>

"Kakashi-senpai, Yondaime-sama is awake and wants to see you." He heard the thump of his commander's book hitting the ground, but then he blinked only to find the space he'd stood previously empty save for the little orange book.

Itachi childishly looked around trying to locate the mask wearing nin and soon felt his signature making it's way to the hokage's tower at an amazing speed.  
>He indulged in one of his rare chuckles before taking the book with him as he headed to the clan compound.<p>

Fugaku looked up from his lazy boy chair to see his elder son staring at him, not three feet away.  
>Managing to hide his surprise behind a carefully raised eyebrow, he lowered the book he'd been reading to address his son.<p>

"Your home early." He commented. Why did this speak of nothing good?

"Yondaime-sama has awoken, and wants to see you." Fugaku felt as though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth at the moment.

"Yondaime-sama, is awake?" He repeated, stupified for lack of better word.

"He knows of the clan's plans as well." This just got better and better didn't they? He hoped that today wouldn't be his last on Earth.

"We shouldn't keep him waiting then." Fugaku sighed worredly, running a hand through his hair. Dare he even think that his son looked happy despite the lack of a smile on his lips?  
>Yes, he could see that light in his son's eyes that had been missing these past weeks.<br>Despite the fact that he may have been walking to his own funeral, Fugaku couldn't help but be relieved that his son was happy again.

Minato had gotten Kakashi to go on a ramen run for him so he could catch up on paperwork when he felt Itachi and another man he vaguely recognized as Fugaku approaching.  
>Finishing the last paper on his desk with a relieved sigh he called for them to come in.<p>

"Yondaime-sama, it's good to see you back in your seat." Fugaku greeted him formally.

"Fugaku-teme how good to see you again!" Itachi was glad he was wearing his mask so no one could see the large smile on his face at hearing his father addressed so.

"Must you call me that Minato-baka?" Fugaku countered, his eye twitching slightly as his old teammate taunted him like he hadn't been in a coma for six years.  
>He had to admit, the man looked a lot paler than he had last he'd seen him.<p>

"In front of my own son as well?" Itachi felt his lungs begin to ache as he tried to hold in his snigger. Hearing his father and hero talk to eachother like that was amusing to say the least but he didn't want to ruin his reputation.

"Yes, yes I must." Minato answered seriously. Itachi took a deep breath and counted backwards from ten to calm himself.

"And I think Itachi thinks it's funny as well." Itachi felt himself pale and stole a side glance at his father who was looking at him like he'd grown a second head.

"But this bickering, as funny as it may be, isn't what I called you here for." Where had the joking blonde from a moment ago gone?  
>Who was this deadly man before them now?<p>

"I've been informed of your clan's less than loyal plans." He said, staring right at the clan head before him.

"I want to know your reasons behind them." He stated.

Fugaku had never been able to convincingly lie to Minato. It was like the man had a sixth sense for the untruth and always called him on his bluff.  
>When he had finally come to terms with the fact that he couldn't lie to the blonde teenager at the time, he'd decided to go with telling the truth as it usually didn't lead to humiliation.<p>

Fugaku told him how the clan elders were unhappy about being treated as though they were less important.  
>They'd grown arrogant stating that the Uchiha were meant to be treated with respect merely because of their name. He told Minato about how they'd been angered when they'd all been forced to move to a single compound in order to be watched, as the original official reason had been seen through.<p>

He especially told him of how there had been whispers that the Uchiha clan were responsible for the attack of the Kyubi no Kitsune.

"It was an Uchiha that caused the attack, but not one of ours." Minato sighed. He remembered the man who wore the black cloak with clouds of blood.  
>He remembered that orange mask and that one visible sharingan eye. He remembered the taunt about his long thought dead student being held by that man as a backup for his eyes.<p>

"Madara Uchiha still lives." He could feel the temperature decreasing at an alarming rate.

"You see, I had been secretly married to a young woman named Kushina Uzumaki, and we were expecting a daughter." Here he would lay his life bare and hope that some good came out of it.

"Normally, she would give birth in a hospital but Kushina was unique, you recall Fugaku?" Fugaku muttered something about firery haired devil women.

"She was unique in another sense as well, in that she was the jinchuriki for the Kyubi no Kitsune." Silence erupted from his declaration and suddenly Fugaku could see where this was going.

"As you may or may not know, a seal holding a demon weakens in child birth, so I had taken precautions." He remembered the safe house he'd taken them to, his wife and unborn daughter.

He recalled the unit of ANBU and the Sandaime's wife, Choko being present as a midwife. He remembered being called away and returning to find the ANBU dead and his daughter's life being threatened.

"The birth was succesful, but it had complications. Kushina lost to much blood." Fugaku had remembered getting the news.  
>At the time though, he'd though that the demon's chakra had forced her into labor and the chakra had poisoned her and the babe. He hadn't even known if it were a boy or a girl.<p>

"When I got there, a man wearing a cloak as black as night with clouds of blood stood holding my newborn daughter." He could see where this was going and he prayed he was wrong.

"He told me his demands. The baby for the Kyubi." Minato rubbed a hand over his face and tried to ward off the exhaustion of this moment.  
>He still felt weak after his long coma and needed rest, but first he had to finish this.<p>

"I saw my chance and used the Hiraishin to teleport myself and the baby to a safe place, this tower." Itachi couldn't stop himself from looking around the room then, wondering if it was here that his hero's child had been brought.

"By the time I got back to my wife though, that man with the orange mask had already extracted the Kyubi from my weakened Kushina and she barely clung to life." He could remember the smell of blood, the great paw about to squish his love, how for the first time he performed the Hiraishin without it's seals.

"Kushina couldn't take the bombardment of the Kyubi's chakra after losing so much blood." He had to fight hard to keep his voice steady.  
>He hadn't really had time to mourn yet.<p>

"She died in my arms within moments." While it hurt so much to acknowledge it, it also felt good to be speaking about it with his long time best friend.

"I didn't have a choice, I had to perform a suicide jutsu to seal the demon away into my own daughter." Here it was that Fugaku lowered his head in shame.  
>He remembered seeing both Kushina and Minato in the girl but doing nothing. He remembered how less than 24 hours earlier two of his men had attacked the girl. He should have done more for her!<p>

"I only stayed concious long enough to name her." Naru Uzumaki Namikaze, his beautiful little girl.

"Fugaku, I need to know if I can count on you to have my back, just like back then." Fugaku had never seen the man so broken and defeated.  
>At the same time, he figured he wouldn't look much better if something happened to his beloved Mikoto.<p>

"You can always count on me to have your back Minato." 'Yours, and your daughter's.' Tonight he'd enforce the laws of the village like the police were meant to and rid the elders of their positions.  
>It was high time he reminded them who was clan head and who the servants.<p>

"I knew I could teme." There was the Minato he knew and despised, turning a serious moment into a joke!

"You should go home and rest, let Sandaime-sama take care of the particulars." He urged his tired friend.

"I know I should but I don't want to." Minato said childishly, wondering where Kakashi was with his ramen. Hadn't it been a good twenty minutes since he sent that boy out?

"You two get out of here, I have paperwork to defeat." Minato said hatefully, glaring at the stack of papers that had mysteriously appeared on his desk.

"It can't be that bad." Fugaku muttered, leaving the room with his son behind him.

"Oh before you go Itachi, I have a mission for you." Minato called back. Fugaku nodded to his son, indicating that he'd be waiting for him outside.

"Yes Yondaime-sama?" He waited with wonderment, curious about what mission there could be for him on such short notice.

"Sarutobi told me about the attack on my daughter and I've decided to give her a little extra protection." He stated.

"I want you to guard my daughter." Itachi would someday realize this was the moment his life had gone down the tube.  
>Protecting a kage's daughter, while a high honor, was torture in a disguise.<p>

"I won't let you down Yondaime-sama." He swore, leaving to the academy where he knew the girl was in the same class as his little brother.

Word spread quickly that the fourth hokage was awake from a coma and the people were anxious to see their leader to see if it was true.  
>At the end of the week, Minato had almost fully recovered and was wearing his kage uniform. Today he would announce his presence to the rest of the village. After that, he'd go and see his little girl!<p>

He soon stood atop the hokage tower facing the people who had gathered for this occasion. Every man, woman, and child had come to see their hero return to them.  
>Minato looked down at his village and felt pride and sorrow rush through him in equal measures.<p>

He loved his home, yet at the same time was sad when he'd heard of how they'd treated his daughter.  
>Of course, he wouldn't be announcing her identity just yet, he'd save that for later. Besides, first he wanted to meet her, for the first time since the day she was born.<p>

"Konohagakure, six years ago the Kyubi attacked and many lives were lost." He knew he had their attention in a second.

"On that day, a man came who could control the tailed beasts." The whispers were starting and he could see some glares pointed at the gathered Uchiha.

"This man I fought, and forced him to retreat. However due to being in a coma, I couldn't tell anyone his true identity." Some confused stares now, but he had 100% of their attention.

"This man was here when the village was founded, and his name is Madara Uchiha." In an unseen corner of a dark alley, a strange black and white plant man stood half in the ground half poking out.  
>The Yondaime Hokage was alive!<p>

"That day I defeated the Kyubi at a great cost. My prredecesor, Sarutobi made a law about it I'm sure many of you remember." Here he allowed his eyes to scan the crowd.  
>She shouldn't be too hard to spot. There, he saw the golden head and that angelic face looking up at him.<p>

He knew the girl had learned of her status little over a week ago, but could not tell how she felt about it from the way she was looking up at him.  
>He could however see how many of the adults were looking at her. He again had to restrain his KI from burning holes into the fools who dared look at his daughter<em> cross eyed!<em>

"I will be making another announcement soon but for now I have other duties to attend to." He said joyfully.

"I'm glad to see the Will of Fire has continued to burn despite the hardships we've faced." He said in conclusion.  
>A great cheer went through the crowd. They cheered for their leader's return, they cheered for a new future and hope for it.<p>

"Minato-sensei, do you plan on speaking to Naru soon?" Kakashi asked him later in his office. Minato was glad to see his student so relaxed, but he was slightly perturbed when he saw the reading material he carried everywhere.  
>He wouldn't make a fuss about it unless he exposed his darling little girl to it though.<p>

"I think I'll do it later today." He said, before steeling his resolution.

"She's not at the academy today, bring her to me would you Kakashi-kun?" Kakashi nodded before leaping out the window in search of the blonde vixen.

Minato finally understood why Hiruzen wished people would use the door rather than the window.  
>Shaking his head, he continued with a letter he was writing to his sensei to request he return to the village. He wanted to see the man who'd raised him again.<p>

Twenty minutes later Kakashi came in carrying a shaken Naru through the window. Minato raised a brow but didn't comment on the fact his _daughter _was being carried under one arm like a sack of potatoes.  
>Kakashi was lucky he was Minato's only student left or he'd be even angrier.<p>

"You can leave now Kakashi." He said dismissively, subtly pointing to the door this time to ensure no one interrupted.

He did a take back when he saw the fox kit in Naru's arms but after seeing it was a regular animal did not comment on it.

"Hello Naru-chan, my name's Minato." He greeted her, giving her a small smile.

"I know." She said quietly, still trying to figure out what this monster under her bed wanted with her and why she'd been practically kidnapped for this meeting.

"Sarutobi told me you'd learned about your status as a jinchuriki." He hated that he'd been the one to do this to his daughter.  
>Just a month before the attack he'd heard how the kazekage had done the same thing to his own son! He felt so bad doing it!<p>

"Yeah, so what?" She asked defensively. This guy was supposedly fast enough that if he wanted you dead you wouldn't know you were dead when he chopped off your head.

"Are you angry with me?" He asked sadly, feeling his previous good mood fly out the window faster than Kakashi.

Naru had to seriously think of how best to answer. She'd been beaten often enough, treated like a disease and hadn't gotten friends for a long time.  
>However, if she hadn't had the demon within her and the hatred of the village, she wouldn't have such true friends. People who stuck by her no matter what.<p>

She had felt betrayed when the old man had kept it a secret from her, but she'd had time to think it over.  
>She still wished someone had told her sooner, but she could understand it. She had often wondered why he had picked an orphan and had thought for some time he'd done it because he genuinely hated her or more practical, maybe her parents.<p>

However, she loved this village despite it's faults. She couldn't honestly say she wouldn't do the same thing in his position.

"I don't know." She finally sighed, feeling too confused to think it through anymore.

"I was angry at the old man cause he hid it from me, left me to wonder why I was hated by so many." She went on, hugging Kisu close to her heart.

"I just want to know," Here she took a deep breath and for the first time since this meeting began, looking into the hokage's eyes.

"Why me?" There lying on the table now was the root of the problem.

Minato took a deep breath before starting. He told her the same thing he told his old teammate Fugaku.  
>He told her she was his daughter and the only one he thought capable of holding back the Kyubi at the time. He told her how even though he really didn't want to do it he couldn't ask someone to give up their own child when he could not.<p>

When he finished, he watched her, trying to gauge her reaction. Somewhere in the middle she had dropped Kisu and he was now looking between the two of them.  
>If he had to describe it, he'd say her reaction was stupified.<p>

"You have my colouring but your bone structure is Kushina's, your mother's." He said, letting his eyes get their fill of her.

"You've grown so much, I can barely believe it." Naru let this information sink in as she realized Hokage-jiji had lied about something else.  
>He said he hadn't known her parents. Why was she always being lied to?<p>

"Why are you telling me all this!" Naru demanded of him.

"Why now when no one would tell me before?" She knew her voice was rising but was to upset to care. Tears began to fill her eyes.

"I hate it when people lie to me! First Hokage-jiji when he said he didn't know why I was hated, then again when I asked about my parents!" She declared before glaring at him.

"So what changed? Why am I allowed to know something I should have known forever now?" She asked, her voice barely over a whisper as the tears finally began to fall.  
>Minato made a big mistake then. He didn't stop her when she left the room with her kit.<p>

Naru wiped away the tears as she walked down an empty alley as she headed for a training ground.  
>She needed to take her anger and frustration out on something before she exploded. In the span of little over a week she'd gotten two of her biggest questions answered. Why she was hated, and who her parents were.<p>

Instead of being happy, thrilled, she was sad though. She was dissappointed that they hadn't seen fit to tell her before now.  
>That they'd found it necessary to lie to her. She understood not telling everybody, but it was <em>her <em>life. She should know these things!

She and Kisu trained until long after the Sun had fallen.

"Let's go home." Naru muttered, feeling a little better now that the training stump resembled a toothpick.

Kisu nodded and as thunder boomed overhead they turned towards home. The rain began to fall as they walked, soaking them to the bone.  
>With her head bent low, Naru didn't see the drunkard until he had bumped against her as he staggered home.<p>

"Apologize demon brat!" Naru clenched her fists and turned to see who was talking. It was the man she'd bumped into not a moment before.

"My apologies." She said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry you could find no better way to forget your loss than by drowning yourself in alcohol!" She added, turning to continue her trek.

She hadn't taken three steps before the man had grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her into the air.

"I'll teach you a lesson brat!" He stammered in his drunken stupor.

"Yeah, get your ass kicked 101!" Naru cried, twisting in his grip to round house him in the side of the head, knocking him out.

"Are you alright Naru-sama?" Kisu asked anxiously.

"I'm fine." She answered, picking up her friend.

Itachi watched with a detached gaze as the girl beat down the drunk. He'd been about to step in when she had surprised him with her move.  
>It didn't look like a normal kick though, and from what the fox did, it was like it was a teamwork excercise.<p>

When she had kicked him, knocking him off balance, Kisu had taken a position behind him to trip him up.  
>He had hit his head when he fell, knocking him out.<p>

It was a simple enough maneuver but he was impressed that a now seven year old had been able to perform it.  
>She had talent, that much he could admit.<p>

Making a note of the face of the drunk, he followed after the young blonde as she walked home in the rain.

Naru had used up all her anger, now all that was left was a sort of sadness. Young as she was she hardly understood why she was upset but knew she was.  
>The tears came unbidden to her eyes as she realized she'd found the family she'd always wanted, only to find she didn't want them around her.<p>

After seven years she was a little too independent, a little to self-reliant to accept the care of another person.  
>In time, if she gave him a chance, she knew she'd see him as the father he claimed to be. When that time came though, inevitably she would lose him and it would hurt.<p>

She didn't understand why she was so reluctant to accept help from him or anyone else. Maybe subconciously she was afraid of relying on someone only for them to turn around and lie to her face or leave her.  
>She was only seven, but had seen the worst humanity had to offer gift wrapped.<p>

Naru cried in silence on the way home for the childhood she never had a chance to enjoy. She wept for the pain she had felt time and again.  
>She sobbed for her mistrust in others and her inability to open up to them. But she didn't understand then why she was crying. She was only seven after all.<p>

"Naru-sama, we'll always be there for eachother right?" Naru turned to look Kisu in the eye from where he was trotting beside her.

"Always." She said, a small smile on her lips and her eyes open to the world. This was a true smile of hers, one as rare as her friends are.

"But first we should get home before we get sick!" She joked, jumping in a puddle before beginning to run for the warmth of her bed.  
>Kisu yipped in surprise behind her, chasing after her with his bedraggled coat.<p>

They reached their apartment without any more delay and dried themselves as best they could. After eating a hearty meal of ramen and dog food, the two fell asleep in Naru's bed, all but dead to the world.

Itachi watched from outside as he contemplated what he would tell Yondaime-sama in his report.  
>Stifling a sneeze before it could potentially give away his cover, he began cursing his new assignment.<p>

He was certain that in his nice warm bed in his big warm mansion Minato Namikaze was laughing at him.

Minato rolled over in his sleep and sneezed all over his pillow. That night he dreamt of giant weasels yelling at him about rain and tiredness as he ran without any clothes on from them.

Rearing into a sitting position after almost being eaten by the giant black haired weasel king, Minato tried to catch his breath.  
>That was the last time he went to sleep after eating ramen with chili sauce mixed in!<p>

The next day dawned hot and bright with a few clouds in the sky. Contrary to the day earlier, which had been downcast.  
>Naru rolled over in bed, nearly squishing Kisu, before landing on the floor. She took a moment to realize she'd fallen from the bed again before sitting up and yawning.<p>

"Morning Kisu!" She yawned, her mouth threatening to split her head in two.

"Mornin' Naru-sama." Kisu barked. Why did humans have to get up so early anyway? Even if foxes didn't need as much sleep as humans he enjoyed it and didn't like waking up in the morning.  
>To quote the pine-apple haired student, it was too troublesome!<p>

Itachi rolled his shoulders before sensing another presence coming up from behind. He turned with his sharingan blazing behind his mask to see another ANBU, one of his teammates actually.

"Karasu, your presence is requested of the council elders. They sent me to temporarily relieve you until your return." He said formally, tossing him the black scroll which held his summons.

After making sure it was real, he made a clone and left it with his comrade. It wasn't that he didn't trust the man behind the Neko mask.  
>It was that he didn't trust the council members when it came to Yondaime-sama's secret-for-now daughter.<p>

Entering the council room, he wasn't surprised to find the hokage himself missing. He was surprised though, to find only the hokage's old teammates and Danzo Shimura present.  
>Something smelled fishy about this, but his clone hadn't dispelled yet so he would wait. For now.<p>

"Itachi, it has come to our attention that your clan is planning against the best interests of Konoha." Danzo said formally.

"Therefore we have a mission for you in order to prevent a civil war from braking out." Homura stated, holding out a scroll with red trim.  
>Itachi knew it was an assassination mission, and hesitantly he took the scroll from the offered hand of the elder.<p>

Unrolling it he felt his stomach plummet to the ninth level of Hell. This was a mission to decimate the entire Uchiha Clan, down to the last man, woman, and child.  
>The hokage couldn't have sanctioned this! His father was dealing with the problem!<p>

"You as a loyal nin must know the risks of letting this continue and we expect you to complete this assignment tonight."  
>No, he wouldn't let this happen. Yondaime-sama would help him surely.<p>

"Did Yondaime-sama sanction this?" He asked coldly, clutching the scroll in one hand, threatening to snap it.

"He does not wish to make such a hard decision so we made it for him." Danzo said cruely. After the massacre he would take the Uchiha eyes as his own to replace the one he'd lost.  
>This was for the betterment of the village.<p>

"I will complete this mission after the hokage has added his seal of approval." He said, turning to leave the room.

"You do not need his seal for every mission Itachi!" Danzo snapped angrily. He'd expected the boy to follow his mission like a loyal shinobi.

"You cannot turn down this mission, it is S-rank." Homura glared at the impudent young man who's back was still turned to them.

"I am ANBU, I answer not to you, I take no missions from you." Itachi said, allowing his KI to reach the dried up old prunes before him.

"I will see if the hokage approves of this before I consider it. You understand, it is merely procedure." He said it with a calm so unlike what he truly felt at the moment.  
>He wouldn't let this happen if he could avoid it!<p>

THE CHAPTER IS OVER NOW GO AWAY UNTIL NEXT TIME BYE BYE!

LC; Okay, now that is what I call a good read.

Naruto; It certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Sasuke; You could make a major motion picture with this thing.

LC; I could couldn't I? Of course, under a different name than Naruto.

Sasuke; What did we just unleash into the world?

Naruto; A new anime involving shinobi and demons?

LC; Bye bye till next time!


	4. early exam

LC; Yay, time for more Spiraling Vixen!

Naruto; Can't we skip this and let you get back to the mutant turtles again?

LC; No, I already updated all my turtle fiction! It's your turn!

Sasuke; I don't know you.

Naruto; Teme, did you hear something?

LC; Hey! Don't ignore me!

Sasuke; No. Why?

Naruto; I don't know, it's this buzzing annoying sound in my ear.

LC; *Sniff* Wah! Don't ignore me or I'll kill you off!

Naruto; Ah! No, don't do that!

Sasuke; We're sorry!

LC; To my story!

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto, now leave me to wallow in the emo corner!

Chapter 4: New Life Twists, Yondaime's Daughter?

Minato groaned quietly as he took off his coat and put it on the rack. He walked down the hall, made a stop at the bathroom, then continued to the end of the hall.  
>He opened the dusty door to the empty nursary that would never be used. He looked at the white cradle the baby would have slept in.<p>

He saw the impossibly tiny dresses Kushina had bought. He looked at the walls, which he and Kushina had personally painted to look like the entire village from different view points.  
>There in the corner was the rocking chair Minato's own mother had used to rock him to sleep at night.<br>There were the toys he had bought for the babbling baby girl they'd been waiting for.

He sighed as he thought of all the firsts he had missed with Naru. He'd never heard her first word. Hadn't seen her first steps, not even crawls.  
>Hadn't been there on her first day of school. He hadn't given her her very first present. Had probably missed her first loose tooth now that he thought about it.<p>

He looked at the picture, sitting on the nightstand next to the cradle. Yep, there was him and Kushina, a very pregnant Kushina.  
>She had looked so beautiful, as they both waited on their little girl. He had been the proudest father in the world, before she'd even been born.<p>

Slowly, he packed away the never worn clothing. He pushed the cradle and rocking chair up the stairs to the attic.  
>He exchanged the diaper changing counter for a dresser. Where the cradle had gone he put a twin sized bed. Next he dusted the pictures and added one of Naru as a newborn, courtesy of the Sandaime, on the nightstand.<p>

He hesitantly put away the nightlight, not sure if she would still be afraid of the dark or not. He put up a little calander, and marked the date.  
>He started smiling as he packed away the toys, imagining an almost seven year old girl playing with the teething rings. Soon tears began falling as he continued softly smiling, changing the room.<p>

When he was done, the Sun had long since set and he still had another room to clean. He should have hired a maid or something.

He wasn't even sure if Naru would want to move in with him. She had been living alone pretty well for a while now, according to the old man.  
>Still though, he wanted to be ready, just in case she agreed. He knew that meeting could have gone better, but he would give her a couple days to get over it and then talk to her. He just hoped it wasn't too late to catch a few fleeting firsts of his little girl.<p>

He wanted to meet her first friends, he wanted to meet her first crush, if she'd had one, and he wanted to bear witness to her graduation into a proud genin.  
>He wanted to be the father he'd never had. He just hoped he still had enough time to make things up to her.<p>

He walked into his own bedroom and sighed as he saw clear signs of Kushina all over the place. He would need to find a box to put some of this stuff in.  
>More tears flowed as he looked over the memories he and Kushina had made. It was when he was cleaning out his closet that he found an old picture of when he was a genin.<p>

It had his old sensei, Jiraiya in the back. Next to him on his right was Kushina, little red haired girl she used to be, and on his left was Fugaku, now head of his clan, and a father in his own right. He recalled all the trouble they used to get into.  
>How Fugaku swore Kushina was some kind of she-devil in disguise. In truth, half the time he believed him, that woman could pull some devious pranks.<p>

Itachi had gone first to the Hokage's office to find that he had already gone home. His clone was still in place, so he went on to the Hokage's manor.  
>He had to find Yondaime, before the council members did something drastic.<p>

He made it and rang the bell impatiently. He was only thirteen, he couldn't help but feel a little impatient during stressful times.  
>He was perfectly entitled to his minor panic attack!<p>

"Itachi, what's wrong?" Minato asked after opening the door.

"Yondaime-sama, it's the council." He told him about being called away, stressing that he left a shadow clone with Naru of course, and about the sub-sequent meeting.

"I was afraid of this." Minato sighed, leaning against the door frame, obviously deep in thought. For a startling moment, Itachi wasn't sure even the hokage knew what to do.

"I've got it!" He suddenly declared, making Itachi jump.

"Instead of an assissination mission, I'll give you a search and capture mission. Capture anyone involved in the Uchiha plans and the council members and bring them to my office. Dismissed." He said tersely.  
>Itachi saluted before shunshining off to complete his mission. He had his work cut out for him.<p>

Back at Naru's apartment, she was busy doing several push ups and other sorts of excercises. Even though the day was Sunday, the day of rest, she worked.

"Naru-sama, it's getting late." Kisu commented sleepily from his position on his mistress' back as she completed push up number fifty.

"Yeah, time for bed." She panted, allowing herself to fall on the ground in pain. Her arms felt like her ramen. She'd never be able to eat ramen again!  
>At least not until tomorrow.<p>

She lay on her bed several hours after this statement, trying to entice sleep to her eyes. Lately her life was just one big line of surprises and she didn't know what to expect next.  
>She supossed the next surprise would be Sasuke-teme is her brother or something! Ha! Or maybe her mother was princess of some long lost country!<p>

Chuckling softly to herself, she thought about the Yondaime. He was her father, and she guessed she should have seen it coming.  
>She did look a lot like the guy.<p>

She wasn't angry anymore, but she was still uncertain about all of this. She didn't know if it would be alright to move in with him, after so long of living by her own merits.  
>She had no wish to be locked in the shadow of the hokage, she wanted to be strong by herself.<p>

She fell asleep around two in the morning, and woke late for class again. As she ran to the academy with Kisu darting alongside her, she thought more on her plans.  
>She wanted to make sure no one could out shadow her. She wanted to be where all the information was, so that no one could lie to her. She also wanted to be able to tell if someone <em>did <em>lie to her.

Didn't Iruka-sensei once say that their was a series of books that shinobi who wanted to be in the T&I department could read?  
>She'd have to look into those later, but for now she was really late and she had to get to class before the first bell. She didn't make it.<p>

"Naru Uzumaki, your late!" Naru flinched, she had only just opened the door to her class when Iruka had yelled.

"Um, oops?" She tried kiddingly, sneaking over to her seat as he ranted and raved on the importance of being on time.

Sadly, there was only one seat left open. It was in the front row, next to Sakura Haruno, who was seated next to Sasuke-teme.  
>This day was off to a bad start but it could only get better from here right?<p>

"Geez Naru-baka, can't you read a clock?" Sakura taunted her as she sat down.

"Were you trying to catch up on your beauty sleep? You know you'll never be as beautiful as me!" Ino put in her two cents from the row above them.

"No, I was just trying to put off seeing your ugly mugs again." Naru muttered below Iruka-sensei's super hearing. The mental countdown commenced!

"Nani!" Iruka swiveled around to see both Ino and Sakura standing up, and having no idea the instigater of the sudden outburst.

"Ino, Sakura, see me after class!" He ordered them sternly. They both groaned before sitting down and taking up their second favorite past time, glaring at Naru.  
>Their first favorite of course being gazing at Sasuke.<p>

Itachi had already incapacitated the clan elders and captured Homura and Koharu, the Sandaime's teammates. He had even gotten his father. All that was left was Danzo Shimura.  
>He arrived at that particular council member's home to find him in the kitchen drinking tea.<p>

"Danzo Shimura, the hokage has requested your presence." He stated demurely. He couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he figured out what this meeting was about.

"The entire council has been called." So it was just the advisory council, that didn't matter. What mattered was that the man hurry up already cause he still had another full time mission to get back to.

Danzo didn't panic, oh no. He did however subtly sign to some of his personal Ne guards to come with him, just in case.  
>The mission was within parameters and the chances of the Uchiha even talking to the Yondaime were fairly low. Besides, this was all for the good of the village. For Konoha, he would do anything. (Except just die already! Apparently!)<p>

In the council chamber, he got a shock in the form of several, just awake Uchiha elders and the clan head, who was glaring at them all.  
>Something told him this might be bad, and he carefully checked to make sure his guards were in place. They were ready.<p>

"Councilmen, elders, I'm glad you could join me this fine day." Minato greeted them cheerfully from his desk.

"Now, I hear that you have been giving my ANBU here some uncertified missions." He said gravely, all joyful banter forgotten in place of the man who took down 300 Iwa nin in one move.

"Karasu tells me that this mission was the extermination of the entire Uchiha clan. I can't condone that." The Uchiha elders sighed in relief, audible to everyone in the room.

"A select few of them however, have been plotting against the village, thus against me." Raido Uchiha, the elder among the elders, shivered in fear.  
>He had hoped that the Yondaime would remain asleep for a few more years so they could off him quietly. Now though, he wondered how he ever thought this plan could work.<p>

"My old teammate Fugaku and I have been speaking about this clan's elder's plans to overthrow the village." He continued, standing up and moving to stand in front of these elders with his arms crossed, a rare scowl marring his features.

"You are hereby under arrest for treason against this village, to be presecuted at the highest level, death." With a snap of his fingers, two ANBU showed up and quickly slit their throats.  
>No one noticed that Itachi had subtly looked away when the blood splattered all over the ground.<p>

"Now, on to less unpleasant matters." Everyone still alive sweatdropped as the Yondaime, now covered in blood from the spurt, started smiling jovally.

"It has come to my attention, that while I respect the Sandaime, he is just too old to effectively rule." He said, pacing the floor and coming to a stop in front of the advisory council.

"For the past few years you've apparently been gaining a lot of support. However, Konohagakure is a dictatorship, any way you slice it." Danzo opened one eye and looked hard at the young leader.  
>This man was strong and took no nonsense. He had matured from the brat Jiraiya trained. He might actually make a decent leader.<p>

"Now, you are all the same age as Hiruzen, aren't you?" Koharu and Homaru couldn't tell where this was going, but they knew they would not like it.

"I'm sure you would all appreciate a nice relaxing retirement, but I'm afraid I'll have to keep you on a while longer." He said, much to their relief and Fugaku's amusment.  
>He knew this play, he had seen Minato use it to trick Kushina into their first date.<p>

"Of course, a few changes will have to be made. For instance, I have to stress that you are advisors, and nothing more, I'm sure you agree." Itachi was bearing witness to politics at it's highest. He felt like he should take out a scroll and start taking notes!

"From now on all B-rank and above missions should be sent to me for my seal before being given to my shinobi. Second no missions may be given to my ANBU unless I am present." He listed them off.

"Finally, I believe that a certain secret organization should send in all information regarding it to my desk as soon as possible." He said this, eyeing Danzo specifically.

"I know about Ne Danzo, but I'll let you keep running it. It might come in handy. However I want all information regarding it to be sent to me, including numbers, ages, names, faces, training methods, and results." He ordered.

"If that's all, I think we can move on to the final reason for this meeting!" He chuckled at their stupified expressions.

"Fugaku-teme, I'll need people I can trust to help me keep this village at the top. I know I can count on you, so how would you like a position on the advisory body?" He asked.

"I'd be happy to Minato, but please don't call me that." He said, as respectively as he could.

"I've called you that since our academy days, old habits die hard." Minato said dismissively.

"Anyway, along with the usual responsibilities of being on the advisor council comes the paperwork that you'll have to fill out daily about whatever the council goes on about all the time." Fugaku could swear the man was holding his laugh in when he said the word paperwork.

"I already have a new idea I've been thinking about to give the village a little extra money! What do you think of the idea of academy students taking on the D-rank missions we get in every day?" Something told Fugaku he would have a lot of paperwork to fill out tonight.

At the academy, Naru could sense that someone was expieriencing an extreme sense of despair nearby but she wasn't the cause.  
>How dare someone try to muscle in on her tiraid! It was her job to make the people that bugged her miserable!<p>

She was in the middle of a pop quiz and she was seriously wishing she could kill the guy who invented them just once!  
>These questions were impossible to answer! She had actually studied for once and found that the test wasn't on anything in the book!<p>

These questions were the kind of thing that came later on, when they got closer to being genin. Things like the hand signs for the Bunshin jutsu!  
>Naru sat back and thought about it for a minute. She had an hour for the test, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see a lot of people struggling with this.<p>

All of them it seemed, except for book worm Sakura who was sitting right next to her, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino.  
>Naru knew they were the smartest in the class, even if Shikamaru usually didn't make the effort to be good at this book learning stuff. What she needed was a way to get the answers from one of them to get a decent passing grade.<p>

Kisu gave a yawn from his spot on her lap, giving her a great idea. Maybe she could send Kisu around the room to get answers for her!  
>It was a worth a shot anyway, otherwise she'd be doomed to be a dunce the rest of her short life!<p>

"Kisu, get answers for this test from Sasuke, Sakura, Shika, or Shino." She whispered urgently, shaking her kit awake and alert.  
>He nodded silently before moving. He had some work to do.<p>

Over the course of the hour, he would get her the answers she needed to pass this test.

"Question one is 82 degrees." She heard a whispered yip behind her. She wrote the answer down, making sure to look as though she was just guessing.

"Tiger, ram, dog, ram, is for question eight." She heard from her right. It wasn't going in order, but none of them knew all the answers so she had to get bits and pieces from the others.  
>Naru was glad Kisu was so good at hiding, Iruka never spotted a thing.<p>

Eventually she got enough answers that she would pass with a C, one of her best grades ever! Kisu hopped on her lap again, and none but a few were aware he'd even moved.  
>From his spot, Shino looked down at Naru and thought of how clever it was that she used her fox nin-ken to gather information from her.<p>

With thirty minutes left to the test, he decided to follow her lead and sent his kikaichu out on a search and retrieve mission for as many answers as possible.  
>In the end, he got enough answers to get a B if they were all correct. He nodded to himself before putting down the pencil.<p>

Shikamaru had watched the interaction between the students and understood what Naru and Shino had been doing.  
>He thought momentarily of doing the same, but he didn't have a method for cheating and it was way too troublesome. Besides, while his classmates might not know it, this was actually the early graduation genin exam.<p>

They gave this to the students every year to see if any were ready to be skipped ahead or graduate early.  
>Becoming a genin at seven wasn't on his agenda, so he held off. Besides, he found the lazy school days good for his sleep cycle and he wouldn't be able to sleep as much if he graduated early. Add the fuss his mom would make, crooning about her little genius, and he would do without it thank you.<p>

Iruka took and graded the tests during their lunch hour and was amazed that two of his students had passed!  
>The most surprising thing though, was that one was Naru Uzumaki. Maybe they had underestimated her? He shook his head before thinking on the progress she had made. From not being able to read to passing the written part of the graduation exam. Who would have thought?<p>

"Uzumaki-san, may I speak with you?" Naru looked up from the swing she was sitting on to see Shino, the bug guy from her class, standing in front of her.

"Sure, what did you want to talk about?" She asked, walking with him to where they wouldn't be over heard.

"I saw you use your fox, Kisu, to cheat on the exam. It was very clever." He said logically.

"Oh, uh, you saw that?" Naru chuckled, scratching the back of her head in an embarrassed fashion. She had thought they were being very sneaky.

"I won't tell. I used my bugs to do the same thing." He admitted, before walking away, leaving behind a very confused and grateful blonde.

"Alright class, next we'll have an accuracy throwing test." Iruka announced to them when they came back from lunch.

They lined up according to name, leaving Naru next to last in front of Ino Yamanaka. Sasuke was standing right in front of her as she watched as one by one, kids were lucky to get even one shuriken into the bull's eye.

"Looks like all that extra training will finally come in handy, eh Kisu?" Naru said happily, thinking back on how many times she had thrown the kunai and shuriken until they stuck.

"Right!" Kisu barked, wagging his tail in Ino's face, as he was standing on his mistress' shoulder.

"Ew, Naru-baka keep your mutt away from me! He might have fleas!" Ino cried, trying to get the nasty tail away from her flawless hair.

"What did you say about Kisu!" Naru roared. Kiba had been walking to the back of the line to talk to Naru when he heard what Ino had said and he decided to come in for support.

"What did you say about fleas and mutts?" He demanded, baring his fangs at the annoying fangirl.

"Your both a couple of mangy dogs." She declared to them.

"Better than being a prissy, stuck-up, weak, shit-faced, damned, fucking bitch!" Naru roared, trying her best to claw Ino to shreds with her short nails.  
>She had been filing them so they were more pointed, and Ino felt the results of it.<p>

"Naru Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, both of you break it up!" Iruka ordered, pulling the cat fight apart, much to Kiba's dissappointment.  
>He had been hoping for some shredded clothing and seeing Ino get her pretty face messed up.<p>

"Naru, it's your turn." Iruka sighed after finally getting the girls to calm down.

"Just watch, I'll beat Sasuke-teme's score no problem!" Naru swore, picking up her kunai and taking careful aim.  
>She let fly and watched as each one found a target. She missed the bull's eye at least twice, but they all landed within the inner ring in that instance.<p>

Without missing a beat she took up the shuriken and hit the dummy's lying in wait, even the moving target.  
>She was better at the shuriken and managed to hit bull's eye with all of them. She turned around then to see the entire class staring at her in shock.<p>

"Looks like my hours of hard work payed off, huh?" She said playfully.

Sasuke stood, gaping at the feat that the girl had just accomplished. He had never seen someone do so well, except his brother of course.  
>This girl was proving more and more surprising by the day. He wondered what she would do next, he almost couldn't wait.<p>

"Alright, now we'll have a jutsu review. I want all of you to perform the two academy jutsu you've already learned and attempt a try at a new one." Iruka said, after herding them back to their class.

Like before, some kids could do it, but most couldn't. The clan heads did well, passing most of the requirments but hitting road blocks at the little details.  
>One fangirl, when she performed the Kawarmii, left behind her skirt when she switched places with the chair. It was a very funny moment for the class.<p>

Iruka's mind was elsewhere as he graded each student's performance after this part of the test. If things kept up this way in the final part, two of his students would graduate early!  
>This had never happened before, but he was proud to say he had taught them everything they knew!<br>Especially of Naru.

"Finally we'll be having a taijutsu tournament." He announced as they went to the school dojo. Here would decide who would pass and who would stay in the academy for another year before it came around again.  
>All Naru and Shino had to do was win two consecutive fights and they were golden! Or, silver like the Hitaite.<p>

"First up is Naru Uzumaki vs. Sakura Haruno." Iruka knew that while Sakura was at the top in book smarts, Naru could run circles around her in physical things.  
>He had a feeling this fight wouldn't be long at all.<p>

"Better leave that wild animal at the side lines Naru-baka, it will only hold you back." Sakura advised her snobbishly.  
>This uppity little jerk would finally learn her place! She was such an idiot.<p>

"No, Kisu is my partner and we fight together." Naru said seriously, stepping into the ring.

Shino looked through his shades as the two seemed to size eachother up. Normally Naru would be bragging about beating her in no time flat, this was not the case.  
>It seemed Naru was unusually serious now.<p>

"Kisu, are you ready?" Naru asked her kit. The little fox nodded and jumped from her shoulders to sit beside her.

"Ready? Begin!" Iruka said, slashing his arm downward.

Not one to wait for her opponent, Naru and Kisu charged forward first. Kisu was slightly faster and he took up a spot behind Sakura and waited for his chance.  
>The Trickster's Dance was still highly unrefined, and only had a few basic katas so far. Mostly it relied on Naru and Kisu fighting both seperatly and together to tire their opponent and knock them off balance.<p>

Sakura dodged the first punch easily but didn't notice the fox in time to stop it from biting down on her ankle, in a very tender place.

"Ow! You stupid flea ridden rodent!" She screamed, kicking her leg back and forth trying to knock him loose.

Kisu did let go, but only not to get in the way as Naru came in with a side kick, sending Sakura back and out of the ring.

"Winner Naru Uzumaki." Iruka announced, seeing Sakura fall out of the line.

"What! But she cheated!" Sakura tried to protest.

"Nin-ken are classified as living shinobi tools, therefore it's within the parameters since technically they aren't normal tools." Iruka explained, shaking his head at the young girl's demands of a recount.

"And really, the fox didn't do anything but bite you." He pointed out.

"You are the one who left an opening for Naru to take." Sakura felt her self-respect plummeting as she realized, yes, Naru had won without breaking any rules.  
>She had been taken down in one blow, how embarrassing! Worse, Sasuke-kun had been watching!<p>

The fights went on, with Shino winning his against Chouji with only a little difficulty. Kiba went up against Sasuke but lost, very narrowly.  
>He would have won, except he attempted a move he hadn't fully mastered and lost his balance.<p>

Shino was drawn again, this time against Ino Yamanaka. The fight started normally enough.

"What just happened! I blinked and missed it!" Naru cried in laughter as she had just watched Shino trip Ino out of the ring without doing anything more than lifting his foot and moving to the side.

"It's not funny!" Ino screamed, having to be held back by Iruka to stop her from going for blood. Naru's to be exact.

"Final match, Naru Uzumaki vs. Sasuke Uchiha. Your up." Iruka announced the last round of the battle.  
>This would decide if Naru passed early or stayed with her classmates. Technically Shino had already graduated.<p>

"Your good, but I won't fall for that trick as easily as your last opponent." Sasuke acknowledged her seriously, taking the Uchiha's taijutsu stance.  
>He was ready for anything now.<p>

"Keep talking Sasuke-teme, it'll make it that much more satisfying when I win!" Naru declared, taking a strange stance he didn't recognize.  
>Her knees were bent, her feet spaced evenly, and her arms were like stone by her side. Next to her, the fur on her nin-ken was bristling, looking almost twice it's size.<p>

"Go Sasuke-kun!" The fan club cheered.

"Naru kick his ass!" Kiba yelled from the opposite side. He and the rest of Naru's friends were on that end of the ring, cheering for their little blonde mascot.

"Begin!" Iruka commenced the battle royal, unaware of what he had just done.

"Time to move out of the lime light Teme!" Naru yelled, running forward to give everything in this fight, the one she'd been waiting on.

Sasuke moved forward and caught Naru's fist in his hand. He swept his leg around to try and knock her off her feet but she jumped over it and him!  
>He turned to face her, consequently turning his back to Kisu. Taking advantage of this, Kisu rushed forward, he had enough momentum now that when he hit it nearly toppled the boy wonder.<p>

Naru saw her chance and took it, aiming a shattering blow to his rib cage. Sasuke lost his breath and was pushed back a couple feet, but still in the circle.

"Nice shot, but not good enough." He scowled. This time he'd make sure to keep both in his line of sight.

"Sorry Sasuke-teme, but your run is over and done with!" Naru said, a grin on her face. It wasn't hostile, he realized, it was happy.  
>She wasn't happy at his pain though, it was the fight itself. She loved this feeling!<p>

He rushed forward, intent on taking the upper had in this fight. It was so sudden that it through Naru through a loop, letting him get a lucky shot to her jaw.  
>He kept up the crusade, first kicking Kisu out of the ring.<p>

"Kisu!" Naru cried, seeing her fuzzy buddy fly through the air. Luckily Kiba jumped and caught him, saving the kit from injury.

"Thanks Kiba!" She called over, before dodging another punch and circling around. Without Kisu now, she'd have to go to the singular approach and hope she was good enough.

She caught Sasuke's next punch and twisted her entire body until she was standing behind him, they were back to back.  
>Next she gave a huge shove, pushing him forward. Without his other arm he couldn't balance the new weight on his back and he face planted on the ground.<p>

Naru had him pinned on the ground, with no leverage to push her back off. If he were an enemy, he would be dead.

"Winner, Naru Uzumaki!" Iruka shouted for all of the class to hear.

Later in the class, just an hour before they would go home for the day, Iruka told everyone the true meaning of this little test.

"This was part of the early graduation program, letting students with great potential graduate to genin earlier than the usual twelve." He said, before holding up two sheets of paper.

"For the first time in a long time, two students passed the early graduation exam! Shino Aburame and Naru Uzumaki, congratulations!" He said, holding up two silver hitaites.

Naru Uzumaki summed it up quite nicely when she said-"NANI!"

A half hour later both she and Shino had been brought up to speed and taken to a room full of twelve year old newly graduated kids to be sorted into teams.  
>They would just be getting to know various people in the older class for now, but tomorrow they would be seperated into teams.<p>

"What do you think Shino?" Naru asked, feeling a little nervous as she could see several of the older kids looking at them.

"I think we should put on our hitaites and bear with it for now." He answered monotonously. He tied his on his forehead and waited to see where she would put hers.

After a moment's hesitation, she put it on her forehead as well. Looking down at Kisu, who was sitting by her feet as she stood next to the door, she couldn't help but think one thought.

'I should have bombed that test!' She never whined, not aloud anyway. She only did that in the comfort of her own mind, where none could hear and judge.  
>Besides, she needed some kind of outlet without ruining her reputation and she couldn't leave for another half hour.<p>

"So we got two early graduates? Weird!" Naru looked up to see a boy with black hair and onyx eyes, who resembled Sasuke.

"My name's Ichigo Uchiha, nice to meet you!" He greeted them both kindly.

"Naru Uzumaki, pleasure's all mine!" Naru said kindly.

"This is Kisu, my fox nin-ken, and my uh, friend Shino Aburame." She continued, hesitating a little, unsure what to call Shino.  
>He was nice to her, had talked to her, so she guessed he qualified under friend now.<p>

"Not often someone graduates at seven, you remind me of my cousin Itachi!" Ichigo said.

"He's basically this hero among Uchihas, graduated at seven, sharingan at eight, chunin at ten, jounin at eleven, and now he's an ANBU!" He said, clearly walking on the line between infatuation and hero worship.  
>Naru was leaning more towards hero worship since he didn't have the same gleam in his eye as the fangirls did with Sasuke.<p>

"It's nice to meet an Uchiha without a stick up their ass." Naru muttered, not looking anyone in the eye.

"Oh, do you mean my other cousin Sasuke? Actually, his entire immediate family is like that, save his mom." Ichigo murmured, making sure no one heard him.

END OF FOURTH CHAPTER SO NOW I HAVE TO MOVE TO SOMETHING ELSE NOW!

LC; Okay, now we got to the part I love! Early graduation!

Naruto; You just singlehandedly, in four hours, messed up the entire Naruto timeline!

Sasuke; Hey, I've been wondering, how do you know how old the Sandaime is?

LC; Oh, I just added and subtracted the years important to his shinobi career. He is seventy nine right? I forgot!

Naruto; Hey, can we get back to the important problem? This screws up everything!

Sasuke; There won't be a team seven!

LC; Yyyeeeaaaaahhhh. You'll see, it's better this way.

Sasuke; Whatever.


	5. team 6

LC; Okay more Spiraling Vixen action!

Naruto; Yay. I'm over-joyed.

LC; You should be! Your a genin before Sasuke!

Naruto; Oh yeah! I forgot about that part! Sweet!

Sasuke; Why couldn't I graduate early too?

LC; Because I don't like you.

Sasuke fans; BOOOOO!

LC; GO AWAY! Only Naruto fans are welcome here!

Sasuke; They follow me everywhere. O.o

Naruto; Try the dirty clothes hamper.

Sasuke; *Jumps in*

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto now please leave the premises or read at own risk.

Chapter 5; The first team, Naru attacks!

Within the next twenty minutes, a chunin they didn't recognize came in and began sorting them into different teams of three.  
>Naru listened for her name, but did not move from her spot against the wall next to Shino.<p>

"Team five will be Ichigo Uchiha, Shino Aburame, and Chona Akmichi." Naru nodded to Shino.

"Team six will be Naru Uzumaki, Harumaru Hyuga, and Shikon Nara." She looked around but couldn't figure out who her teammates were.  
>Kisu yipped at her to find out later and she relaxed a little. She wasn't in this alone after all.<p>

For the lunch hour the group seperated into their teams to get to know eachother. Shino went with Ichigo to see Chona Akimichi.  
>Naru now was left alone to try and figure out who her teammates were.<p>

She remembered the last names were the same as two of her classmates, so looked for people with the same features.  
>She then found a boy with long black hair with the same white eyes as Hinata, and a girl who was fast asleep in much the same position as Shikamaru was often found.<p>

"Are you Harumaru Hyuga and Shikon Nara?" She asked uncertainly, holding Kisu in her arms.

"That is correct." Harumaru answered sternly. He certainly didn't look happy to be on a team with a little girl, but she'd win him over eventually.

"I'm Naru Uzumaki, and this is my fox ninken Kisu." She introduced them politely.

Shikon raised her head and instantly memorized all the minute details about her new teammate. Even though it was a drag, she saw that the over sized shirt most likely hid the kid's malnutrition.  
>The fox ninken was unusual, considering foxes weren't very popular any more.<p>

The kid looked nervous, she kept tugging at her blonde hair. She looked like the recently awoken Yondaime too, save the whisker marks.  
>It was a drag, that she noticed all of this in a glance and had it filed away to ponder later. Just once she wished she could look at something before mentally dissecting it. It was such a drag!<p>

"Shikon Nara." She yawned, aware that it was her turn to be introduced.

"Do you know Shikamaru and Hinata?" Naru asked.

"Hinata-sama is in your class? She is my second cousin." Harumaru stated.

"Shikamaru's my cousin." Shikon answered simply.

They didn't talk much after that. Naru felt uncomfortable in the silence but forced herself to sit still and not fidget.  
>She wanted to be treated seriously, not like a kid. That meant behaving maturely. As unfun as that sounded.<p>

In the hokage tower, a young female chunin was busy reporting the graduates. She was made to stop when she came to the early graduates.

"What did you say?" Minato asked.

"Oh, Naru Uzumaki and Shino Aburame both passed the early graduation exam sir." The unnamed chunin repeated patiently.  
>It was a bit of a shock to learn the jinchuriki and another students had passed so early. It was like Itachi Uchiha all over again! This time there was two of them!<p>

'My daughter's a prodigy!' Mentally, Minato was doing his patented happy dance as he looked over her roster so far.  
>She had passed by the skin of her teeth in the writing department but she was above average for everything else, especially for her age group.<p>

'She's a genius!' He boasted to his mental version of Fugaku.

'Just like your son only better!' The fact that the Aburame kid passed to didn't even cross his mind as he planned what he'd say to his old teammate when they saw eachother later.

"She's been placed on team six with Harumaru Hyuga and Shikon Nara." The chunin lady continued.

"Right, thanks for the update. It looks like we have a promising bunch this year." He said nonchalantly.

Minato sighed as soon as the lady left before allowing his grin to spread. He hated being serious around other people but as hokage it was his duty to appear serious.  
>Even if on the inside he was often making fun of the same old coots he was most likely talking to at the moment.<p>

Now that he was alone, he took out the folder Danzo had already delivered to him an hour ago. So far ROOT appeared to consist of orphans who normally would never get someone to sponsor them in the academy.  
>ROOT or Ne took these children at a young age and trained them using very inhumane methods.<p>

He didn't approve of this method for children but couldn't argue with the results. He took special note of the seal used to keep Ne from breaking under interrogation and recognized it as not an Uzumaki style, which he'd studied using.  
>It looked more similar to a style of the Kenpachi clan in Taki.<p>

Many of the children were around Naru's age when they were taken in, and he had to admit, he was glad the old coot hadn't thought to take in Naru.  
>If Danzo hadn't had Sandaime to contend with, he most likely would have, if only because of her position as jinchuriki.<p>

There was a knock on the door and he hid the documents before calling for the person to enter.  
>In came Hiashi Hyuga, an old rival of his and a stick in the ass if ever he saw one. He'd been wondering when he'd see the ice cube again.<p>

"Hiashi-san, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He greeted demurely.

"Yondaime-sama, I was one of the few you told when Kushina-san became pregnant. What I came for is to inquire as to the location of the child." His eyes stared unflinching at him. Minato should have known he couldn't keep it a secret.  
>Chances were Hiashi had already figured it out but had come here first to confirm his suspicions.<p>

"We had a daughter. She's recently graduated the academy at a very early age." He answered.

"An early graduate?" Hiashi muttered, his brows furrowing in agitation. So the child had made genin already?

"Am I to take it that it was Naru Uzumaki? I wasn't made aware of her early graduation." Minato nodded before standing from his seat.

"Walk and talk with me Hiashi, and we can get to what you really wanted to speak about." He said, walking to the door. He needed some lunch anyway.

"You know when the council hears of her heritage they will demand a marriage contract." Hiashi commented as they took an empty road to Ichiraku ramen.

"Trust me, I'm not looking forward to it." Minato sighed. At least she was a girl, that meant even though she fell under the CRA, Clan Revival Act, she could only marry one man.

"Have you considered a paper engagement?" Hiashi suggested.

Minato stopped in his tracks as he considered the offer. Basically Hiashi would write up some gobbly-gook on a piece of paper stating that one boy from his clan and Naru would marry when they reached a certain age or rank.  
>However paper engagements were flighty and could be canceled at a moment's notice.<p>

"Who would you suggest?" He asked suspiciously. He would do a little digging into it later on after he had a name.

"Hizashi had a son you will recall, a year older than her, his name is Neji." Hiashi said.

"Which reminds me, where is Hizashi?" Minato asked.

"It is a long story." Hiashi sighed, lowering his head. Minato took the hint and remained silent as the Hyuga head told the awful story of his daughter's attempted kidnapping.

"I'm sorry, I know you were close." Minato said, finally sitting down to a bowl of warm miso.

"It was his decision." Hiashi stated, hiding his pain like a born actor. Minato couldn't blame him. It hurt the same way with Kushina.

"We can write up the papers when we get back. I'll be announcing her heritage soon." Minato stated after his fifth bowl.  
>Hiashi had almost forgotten how much ramen the man could eat.<p>

Itachi had the day off today, so he was just walking through the compound, heading to one of the clan's training grounds.  
>At first he didn't notice the looks he was being given, but then he began to grow uneasy. It wasn't just the fangirls either, though that was scary in and of itself, but it was also some of the adults looking at him now.<p>

"Yeah I heard he's responisible for catching the elders plotting against the village." One man said to his wife.

"He's so young to have such a burden." Another woman said to her friend.

"I heard that he's on good terms with the hokage." A child bragged to his friends.

Ah, so the rumors about him were spreading. He should have realized something like this would happen.

"Yo Tachi!" Only one person called him that. Not a moment later he felt his best friend latch himself on around his neck, nearly throwing off his balance.  
>Luckily he caught himself in time, just like always.<p>

"Yo is the rumor you met with Yondaime-sama true?" The over inuldgant thirteen year old asked him. Then again, he was thirteen too.

"Yes." He answered, letting himself be steered to a less populated area of the compound.  
>Itachi noticed the direction they were going and wondered what Shisui wanted to talk about at the Naka river.<p>

"You should have taken me along! I'd love to meet the Yondaime!" Shisui was whining. Something was off about his voice though. No, not his voice, his speech pattern.  
>Itachi's eyes narrowed and he glanced over at his life long friend to see him animatedly saying what he'd say to his hero.<p>

There, his eyes were glazed. Shisui wasn't in control of his current actions. His best friend was being controlled and he was being lured to a trap.  
>Itachi tried to think of a way to release his friend but it didn't act like a normal genjutsu.<br>He stopped walking, looked directly at his confused friend, and activated his sharingan.

"Shisui, I won't let you be controlled." He whispered before asserting his own will over who ever had put their's over his friend's.  
>Instantly there was a reaction.<p>

Shisui gasped in pain before collapsing to the ground. Itachi immediatly roused his friend. What he had just done had the risk of causing mental damage, but it was the only way to over-ride another's control.

"Tachi?" Shisui moaned. His head felt like it had been caught between a rock and a hard place.

"What's goin' on?" He slurred, sitting up with his friend's help.

"Shisui, you were under someone's control. Can you remember who?" Itachi questioned him.

Shisui looked confused until his head began to throb and he recalled what had happened. He had been at the market, just walking around with nothing to do.  
>He had heard something in an alley and investigated.<p>

"All I saw was a weird looking sharingan. It looked like some kind of pinwheel." He told his ANBU buddy.

"You were leading me to Naka river, so that must be where he's waiting." Itachi muttered, looking down the road and trying to sense if someone was there.

"Tachi, what did you do to my head?" Shisui groaned, the headache was getting worse.

"Sorry, I had to push out whoever was there first." He certainly didn't sound sorry, but he didn't call him on it.

"Shisui, go to Yondaime and tell him what you saw." He hardly ever pulled rank on his friend, but he couldn't let Shisui come with him.

"Fine." Shisui growled, running off.

Itachi came to a stop at Naka river, his senses pulled taut. If a frog so much as croaked he'd shoot a horde of shuriken at it.  
>So far he couldn't see anyone, but there was only one place they could be, and that was here. Unless they had a different objective than just leading him to this spot. Maybe they were going to have Shisui attack him or something?<p>

"You are good for one so young, especially to destroy the mental conection I had made with one Shisui Uchiha." He turned instantly, his sharingan spinning.  
>To see a man with a mask and a pinwheel like eye, staring at him from the end of the street, where he'd just come from.<p>

"So you are Itachi Uchiha, their pride and joy. I must say the rumors do not do you justice." The masked man said to him.

"Who are you?" Itachi demanded of him, trying to ignore how much like a kid he suddenly felt. What was it about this man that made him feel like he was just a child to a giant?

The man removed his mask, revealing a face he recognized all to well. His name was Madara Uchiha, and he was the head of the clan at the time of the village's founding.  
>He had also been made out to have died after battling with Hashirama Senju, the Shodaime hokage.<p>

"Ah, I see my reputation procedes me." Madara said good naturedly.

"What are you doing in this village?" Itachi questioned him. He just had to wait for the Yondaime to arrive. Shisui was known as Shisui of the Flash Step, and Yondaime had the Hiraishin. It wouldn't be long now.

"I came to see how much my clan had progressed and I must say, I'm dissappointed. Oh well, I still have young Obito to toy around with yet." The man laughed maniacally.

"Obito?" Itachi gasped. That was the name of his uncle, but he had died during a mission in the early days of the third war.

"Yes, young Obito has matured greatly, though against his will." Madara said off handedly.

"Well, long time no see." He had never been so happy to hear that tone from his kage.

"Ah Minato, so my informant was right. You did survive." Madara growled, his previous flippant mood gone.

"So you do have Obito." Minato said, not acknowledging the last comment.

"And if I do? Will you try to save him?" The man replaced his mask. Minato's eyes narrowed. He knew a fight here would be risky, but he needed that information.  
>He owed it to Obito, to find him wherever he was. The body was never found, and it made sense now. There was no corpse to find.<p>

"You know, there's an age old saying. Beware of the red dawn, for it brings a dark day." Itachi felt as though he had blinked and the man had vanished.  
>The air where he had been standing was distorted, showing a teleportation technique had been used.<p>

"A red dawn? Akutsuki?" Minato pondered aloud.

"Yondaime-sama, what should we do about this?" Shisui asked nervously. The poor kid was sweating bullets at being in the presence of greatness.  
>The hero of the third war, Minato Namikaze!<p>

"I'm going to do what I should have done after I woke up. I'm going to upgrade this village, I want us ready for anything." His leader answered gravely.

"Shisui, I want you to send a message to all jounin that a meeting will be held tomorrow. Itachi, I'm sorry to ask you to do this on your day off, but I want you to continue with that mission I gave you." Both Uchihas nodded and went about their new jobs. Or in Itachi's case, regular torture.

"Team six?" Naru looked up to see a young man with stuffy glasses and a pompous attitude looking in their direction.

"Follow me please." He instructed them. Naru already disliked the guy, he was next on her to-prank list.

"My name is Ebisu, and I will be your jounin sensei." He wore his hitaite like a bandana, and wore the standard shinobi uniform sans flak jacket. He also had sunglasses.

"Now, how about we all introduce ourselves, of course starting with myself as an example." He suggested.

"I am Ebisu, I'm here to train young well bred shinobi to be the best they can be. I like sushi and dislike wasabi sauce, my dream is to train someone who will become legendary in this village." He said.

"Shikon Nara, here because my mom wanted me to be a ninja. I like quiet and clouds, I dislike loud things and my dream is to marry a succesful shinobi and have two kids, a boy and a girl." The lazy Nara woman introduced herself, sounding like she was in a daze and not really paying attention.

"Harumaru Hyuga, here because it is expected of me. I like training past my limits and dislike those with talent who squander it. My dream is to be an ANBU." The branch member stated.

"Naru Uzumaki and Kisu, here to protect our precious people! I like my ninken, training, and ramen! I dislike narrow minded people. My dream, is to be hokage!" Ebisu had to admit, the girl had to have talent to have graduated at seven.  
>He was looking at a possible second Itachi here!<p>

"Well we'll have our first mission tomorrow. Meet at training ground six at seven in the morning." He ordered them.

"Hai!" The chorused.

Now free for the remainder of the day, Naru decided to do a little studying. She could barely remember the answers to the questions, and that irked her.  
>She wanted to be able to answer questions on her own, without resorting to cheating.<p>

She got to the library but didn't enter after she saw who was sitting behind the desk. It was the old bat, a woman who hated her.  
>She had tried hiding in here once on her birthday, but the old woman ratted her out. Then she never let her back through the doors. If she wanted in, she'd have to get creative.<p>

"Kisu, it looks like we'll have to be a little inventive." She said, walking into the alley next door. She dug through the garbage until she found a length of rope.  
>Next she propped up a big crate with tons of empty cans on it, and used the rope to rig the prop.<p>

"Kisu, when I give the signal, you tug the rope and create the distraction." She told him.

Itachi watched from his vantage point as Naru rigged a trap and then positioned herself into the old librarian's blind spot.  
>Once that was done she began whistling a little tune, one he recognized as an Uchiha funeral hymn.<p>

He wasn't completely sure at the moment if he should be disturbed that her idea of a signal was to whistle a funeral hymn from his clan.

He heard the loud clattering as the many cans fell against the ground and watched as the librarian ran outside to investigate.  
>As soon as the woman had turned her back Naru had went in through the open door and vanished down to the shinobi section. He nodded his head in approval before subtly following.<p>

He watched her head straight to the chakra control area. He himself had noticed she'd had very bad control but didn't think she would catch it.

Naru took down a book that said chakra control excercises. She knew her control wasn't as good as other people's and she also knew that wall walking was something that was related to chakra control.  
>Within a few minutes she found what she was looking for.<p>

She took out of her pocket a small notebook and noted down all she would need to know for the tree/wall and water walking excercises.  
>When she saw the leaf spinning excercise, she added that into the margin.<p>

She went to the edge of the bookshelves and peeked out to see the old hag sitting behind her desk again.  
>Naru shrugged before making her way to the back of the large room. There, she began climbing up the shelves, until she reached the balcany of the second level.<p>

This level was for those of chunin rank and had more complex stuff there. She looked for more ninjutsu and found something about elemental affinities.  
>She wrote down notes about that and where to find the paper to test her affinity before moving on. Since she didn't know her affinity yet she wouldn't look at ninjutsu just yet.<p>

At this level, she could walk over to the window that led down to the same alley Kisu would be waiting for her in.  
>Sure enough, she could see the kit's tail sticking out from inside the upturned crate. Now all she needed was a way down, and she could see how.<p>

After her first time sneaking into the library she had realized how trapped she was. After this scary expierience, she had placed an old mattress below the window.  
>All she had to do was jump down and land on the mattress.<p>

She stuffed the notebook back into her pocket, took a deep breath, and took a leap of faith.

Itachi had almost panicked when he saw her about to jump out a window but sighed in relief when he saw the mattress.  
>So she had been prepared for this, how interesting. She must have set it up before he got this mission.<p>

"Naru-sama, did you get what you wanted?" The fox yawned at her.

"Yep, now we got to practice on it!" She confirmed. They went to an unused training ground and began the long journey towards chakra control.

"Concentrate chakra to the bottom of your feet but beware of the amount. Too much and you will be blasted off the surface, too little and you will slip, mark progress with a kunai." She read off.

"Seems easy enough! Let's go!" She said excitedly.

While Naru had her method of concentrating her chakra and then charging, Kisu concentrated his chakra and tested his paw against the surface.  
>He got a lot less bruises from this method and made a lot more progress.<p>

By the end of the day, Naru had only managed to get about a quarter of the way up the tree.  
>Needless to say she was a little tiffed about the results thus far.<p>

"Relax Naru-sama, your still ahead of anyone else in your class." Kisu tried to assure her.

"Yeah but for how long? Most of them have clans to teach them!" She pointed out.

They left the training ground and headed home for the night. After a short dinner, Naru went to take a shower and Kisu went to his little bed to sleep.  
>In the shower, Naru washed her body before she thought of something. She began molding her chakra and noticed immediatly when the seal appeared.<p>

So this is what was holding that demon back from destroying everything in it's path? It looked rather weak, but she guessed there must be some magic behind those symbols.  
>She briefly pondered actually studying the things, but decided against it. She'd be too scared of accidently releasing the biju to the world.<p>

In another part of the village, Kakashi stood staring at the memorial stone. As per usual he was staring at a single name.  
>Obito Uchiha, a boy who would become his best friend, without him realizing it. A boy who would then die, all because he had put the mission before his comrades. He'd never make that mistake again.<p>

But his sensei had just told him that there was a chance Obito was still alive. There was a chance he hadn't failed as awfully as he thought.  
>After all these years though, he highly doubted Obito still felt anything akin to friendship towards him. He probably felt like he'd been abandoned or something.<p>

Kakashi made himself a promise. No matter how long it took, he'd find where Madara was holding his best friend.  
>He'd save Obito if it was the last thing he did. And he'd make sure to return the eye he'd been given.<p>

"Obito, I'll find you, I promise." He whispered quietly.

Jiraiya looked at the gates of the village for a minute before he entered. He wished he could have gotten here sooner but he had been getting information on Orochimaru's movements. It seemed his ex-teammate was building his own hidden village.  
>Though he doubted this meant the pale man had changed his ways.<p>

He made his way to the hokage tower, evading all the ANBU and frowning at how easy it was. Looked like they had gotten sloppy in the years of peace.  
>That was a mistake, he'd have to speak with Minato about it later.<p>

"Jiraiya-sensei, glad you could make it." The kid was sharp as ever at least.

"Hey gaki, how's it been shaking?" He asked from the open window, drawing attention from the previously oblivious guards.

"It could be better, but I'm feeling pretty good with all that's been happening." Minato sighed, pushing away the paperwork he was almost certain he had signed earlier that day.

"It's good to have you amongst the awake again!" Jiraiya joked, jumping into the room.

"Well I'm glad your here, a lot has happened." The blonde man groaned.

"First is my daughter seems to hate me, the Uchihas were plotting against me, and I just discovered that my student Obito might still be alive." Yep, today was most definitely going to be interesting for the old super pervert.

An hour later, everything that had happened since his awakening had been told. Jiraiya did the best thing he could at a time like this.  
>He pulled a bottle of sake, two cups, and a pack of cigars, from his robe and set them on the desk.<p>

"In the history of men, none have deserved this more than you." He said honestly.

A knock echoed on the door and Minato called for them to enter. In swept Hiruzen and Fugaku, both of whom were laden down with folders.

"That better not be for me." Minato warned them.

"No, these are the council's reactions to your ideas." Hiruzen informed him sympthetically. He too understood the horrors of paperwork and was secretly very happy that he could finally retire.

"Minato-baka, remind me to find some way to get back at you for giving me this job." The Uchiha clan head growled.

"Right." Minato chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

He looked through the ideas, mostly about changes to the academy courses and the plan for students to take on the D-ranks to save money.  
>That way the village could keep the money and the genin could get more real expierience.<p>

The course changes was for less theory and more practical stuff, things you could actually use in real life basically.  
>Things like trap making, infiltration, physical strength, stealth, things that could keep them all alive. He wanted to raise the calibur of their ninja, not sugar coat it and let them die early on.<p>

It seems the ideas had been well recieved by all but the civilian council. Figures they would throw a fit over it simply because they feared it would be too hard on the kids.  
>He'd have to do something about them soon. They were civilians, and thus, should have no say whatsoever in shinobi matters!<p>

He looked at the clock and sighed. It was getting late outside and he still hadn't fully recovered from his coma.  
>He would need to rest, if only the paperwork would stop pouring in at such a fast pace. He could use a vacation to Crescent Moon kingdom.<p>

"Minato, you should get home and rest." Fugaku suggested.

"I should, but if I do, then when I come back in the morning the paperwork will have tripled." Minato sighed, glancing again at the formiddable piles.

"Get home gaki, you can barely keep your eyes open." Jiraiya ordered, hefting the man to his feet. He was surprised when he felt how light the young man was. He couldn't have been more than shy of 150 at the moment.

His health was revealed when Minato stumbled against the larger man when his vision rushed as a response to his quick movement.  
>He had to blink for a minute before up became up and down stayed down again.<p>

"See Minato, you need to sleep!" Jiraiya said urgently. He'd never seen the kid so weak, he could barely stand.

"I know." He sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple to ease the ache.

"Come on kid, I'm going to make sure you won't pass out before we get home." Jiraiya said gently, nudging the still slightly dizzy man to the exit.

Jiraiya ended up half carrying him by the time they reached the Namikaze estate and let himself in.  
>He had never seen the kid so weak before. He hadn't been taking care of himself, working to the bone like that. It just wasn't healthy for him. He'd need to rest for a while.<p>

He left the man mumbling in his sleep, lying on the bed. He'd talk to Sensei tomorrow about keeping the blonde brat in bed for a couple days.  
>He'd also put in a special order with Ichiraku. He'd have to fatten the man back up again.<p>

The day dawned too early, as it always did. Naru groaned as a shaft of light hit her eyes and turned over in her bed.  
>What was she supposed to do today? Oh yeah, team meeting at seven.<p>

She blearily opened her eyes to glare at her alarm clock, which said five. She had two hours, what could she do in two hours?  
>Take shower, eat at Ichiraku's, set up a prank for the old hag librarian, maybe go shopping for more instant ramen if she hussled.<p>

All of these seemed like worthy reasons for rousing from the warm covers, so she got up and did the options in the order she had thought of.  
>When her and Kisu left at exactly five thirty to get breakfast, she locked the door behind her. For some reason, she had felt a sense of foreboding and had taken all of her money and supplies with her, including an extra jacket.<p>

"Naru-sama, do you have a bad feeling too?" Kisu asked hesitantly. He felt like he should curl up and hide somewhere.

"I don't know what it is, but I have this gut feeling." Naru replied.

The feeling persisted during their breakfast, consisting of ramen and the swirly fish that Kisu liked called naruto.  
>They skipped te prank on the old hag and went to the training ground, number six, where they were told to wait. They had a good thirty minutes to spare, and nothing to do.<p>

"Let's practice the tree walking excercise." Kisu suggested after the first five minutes. Naru agreed because she didn't want to sit and do nothing with this feeling rushing through her.

They didn't make a lot of progress, and stopped five minutes before Shikon and Harumaru showed up within minutes of eachother.  
>Naru was pretty sure they could tell something was bothering the young seven year old, but neither mentioned it. She was glad about that. She'd probably sound silly talking about feelings.<p>

"It's good to see your all on time." Ebisu said when he entered the grounds at seven on the dot.

"A shinobi must always be punctual, it could mean the difference between life and death." He advised them wisely.

"Today our mission will be a simple one. I will assign one of you as team leader, and that person will be in charge of supervising the other two as they wear these." He held up two blindfolds.

"You will also be handcuffed together, and totally dependent on the instructions of your leader." He said, holding up the cuffs.

"You will follow the leader's instructions, which I'll leave on this piece of paper, until your mission is complete." Harumaru had to admit it sounded like a decent excercise, but with his byakugan it would hardly be a challenge.

"Oh, and no using chakra, these cuffs suppress it." Darn, that meant no bloodline. Meaning no seeing through the blindfold unless he was the leader.

"The leader will be Shikon." Damn, this is such a drag. Why did she want to be a ninja again? Oh yeah, she hadn't, her mom wanted her to be one.

END OF THE CHAPTER NOW PLEASE LEAVE THE PREMISES, REVIEW, AND THANK YOU!

LC; Alright, not a bad chappie!

Naruto; I guess. But I'm still a girl, that's a major flaw.

LC; Shut up.

Sasuke; He doesn't know the meaning of the words.

LC; Be quiet, zip it, close the hole under your nose, shut your yap. How many ways must I say it?


	6. fiancee

LC; Well now it's time to relax and finish up this chap of Spiraling Vixen!

Naruto; By the way, I've been meaning to ask, why Spiraling Vixen?

Sasuke; What does the title mean?

LC; Hmm? Well the vixen part is pretty much explanatory.

Naruto; Yes, we know that part. But what about the Spiraling part?

LC; Oh that?...It has to have a meaning?

Both; *Face fault*

LC; If you really want to know, the spiraling signifies Naru's growth of character.

Sasuke; So she's going into a downward spiral?

LC; Why do you automatically think it's downward?

Naruto; You mean spirals go up too? Cool!

LC;...Just read the fic.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto! Only Kisu cause he's cute and has a bushy tail!

Chapter 6; The Lazy leading the Blind, which way?

"Ow damnit Shikon, can't you keep from leading us into trees?" She grievously annoyed now.

"Shikon, if I run into one more tree I promise no one will find the body." Her face was bruised, her ego broken and lying at her feet on the ground.

"Troublesome, just stay behind me. Your small enough." Hmm, maybe in the hot springs. The water would keep the body from being found by scent.

"Shikon, will you at least tell us where we're going?" Harumaru was never the first to admit it, but he too was bruised and tired of running into trees while they went down very narrow forrest paths.

"My special spot." Was all Shikon answered with. They couldn't get the exact location out of her, no matter how either pestered or pleaded.

"Kisu, think you could help a little bit at least?" Naru finally huffed to her passenger.

"but Naru-sama, what about your sensei?" The fox kit asked.

"Who cares about him? Besides, I'm reading between the lines, and he never said I couldn't follow you just as well as Shikon!" Naru said with conviction.

Shikon watched the conversation out of the corner of her eye. So Naru could understand the fox and the fox understood Naru.  
>It warranted a lot of pondering, which was going to be troublesome. Which was also part one of why they were heading to her special spot. She always did her best thinking there.<p>

Naru didn't apparently come from a big clan, and Shikon was sure she'd hear of a clan specializing with foxes. On top of that, she knew that Naru was an orphan.  
>But at the moment, that isn't what was bothering her. What was bothering her was that Shikon was sure she knew the kid from somewhere.<p>

They had never met, but in the very back of her mind, there was a tingling familiar sensation. She didn't know the kid, she knew _about_ her.  
>The real question is, what did she know about the bubbly Naru Uzumaki? What did it have to do with the little fox that followed her around? Why did it bother her so much?<p>

Harumaru meanwhile was having a similar inner debate. Naru was well known, and infamous, among his clan.  
>On her fifth birthday she had singlehandedly managed to dye all the clan's clothing orange. All without being seen. By anyone. At all.<p>

He had been warned towards staying away from her, but honestly, despite the rumors she was almost likeable. For a seven year old child anyway.  
>She was mildly annoying, had a bad habit of day dreaming, had poor academy scores, and was all too cocky, but not as bad as anyone else he knew. Besides, she had to have some serious skill to be able to dye all their clothes without anyone noticing.<p>

"Minato, you realize I left you at your house so you could rest right?" Jiraiya didn't understand it. He'd gone to all that trouble of practically tucking the gaki in and then he went ahead and showed up at work the next morning?  
>He did know the meaning of the word rest right?<p>

"Actually I'm a kage bunshin." Apparently he didn't. Oh well, at least this meant the original was sleeping at home.

"Boss is at Ichiraku's trying to eat his weight in ramen." Or not. Damn gaki.

The gama sennin merely shook his head and bolted out the window. At least the gaki was getting some food and not doing the work himself.  
>Still, even for a chakra juggernaut like Minato, kage bunshin when not at a hundred percent was costly.<p>

"Well gaki, got anything to say in your own defense?" Minato nearly activated his emergency hiraishin when he heard that voice. Luckily or unluckily though, he regained control and stopped himself from flashing to his bedroom.  
>Even after being in a coma for the better part of nearly seven years, his sensei still managed to scare the shit out of him.<p>

"I'm waiting for Naru." He answered simply. He still wanted to bring his daughter home. At least that was a first he hadn't missed.

"Seven years is a long time." Jiraiya sighed. Despite his normally bubbly personality, he was rather pessimistic in his views. He honestly didn't believe that after seven years of being alone, Naru would instantly jump for the same family that had cursed her with lonliness.  
>At the very least, she would be distrustful.<p>

"I don't care if she never forgives me." But he had to hope.

"Naru-sama, what will you do about your tousan?" She was, after all, alone at night.

"Even if she never wants me to hold her like a father holds his daughter." He could still dream.

"I'll do what I've been doing, make a name for myself someday by being a great kunoichi in my own right. I'll be hokage someday." She didn't want to sit in another's shadows, even though it would be a constant reminder of being loved after all. Instead of abandoned and left for dead, like she'd been led to believe.

"I'm still going to hope that someday she can call me tousan." He'd already lost his wife, he didn't want to lose his child too.

"Maybe someday we can be together, but for now I'm going to train to be the best, and when that day comes, I'll decide what to do once and for all." It was her final answer, and she wouldn't be moved. She was just that stubborn.

Shikon eventually brought them to a clearing in the middle of the forrest. Since their sensei had never directly ordered them to keep moving, they decided to stay in the clearing.  
>So long as they kept on the cuffs and blindfolds, it should be fine. After all, he should have been more specific to a group of ninja.<p>

Ebisu watched from a nearby tree as the children either meditated, slept, or talked. Harumaru, Shikon, and Naru with Kisu respectively.  
>He guessed that he should be proud that they had actually seen underneath the underneath, but all he really felt was annoyed. This excercise was meant to build their trust and teamwork and in the end all they did was lounge about.<p>

Oh well, he guessed he should have expected it. After all, Shikon and Harumaru on their own may be great ninja, but Naru Uzumaki was a no clan kunoichi. She may have been extremely talented, but in the end she was undisciplined.  
>That would have to change if she was ever going to be great.<p>

"Alright team, remove your blindfolds and cuffs, this pointless excercise in futility has come to an end." He ordered them, trying to sound stern.

Naru and Harumaru had to take a few minutes for their eyes to readdjust, but when they were done, he addresed them again.

"I have already drawn up training schedules for the three of you. You will complete these excercises once per day at the least." He said, handing to them their scrolls.

Naru eagerly looked over her own scroll, but found it to be rather disappointing. 20 pushups, 15 squats, 20 sit ups, 10 laps around training ground, 50 kicks, 50 punches.  
>She could already do most of those! She'd only have to up her training for the kicking and punching! What a rip off!<p>

They seperated at about 1:00 and Naru decided to go to Ichiraku's for lunch. She had some extra money, so she could afford to indulge in a sizeable amount of ramen at least.  
>After that, she'd get to training. She had to get even stronger now that she was a genin after all.<p>

It was with a lot of trepidition, hunger, and encouragement from Kisu, that she did not turn tail and walk away when she saw who was already sitting at one of the stools.  
>As it were, she settled for sitting a few stools away from him and ordering her meal as always. Miso ramen could make all things better!<p>

"Talk to him!"

"No."

"He might pay for the ramen!"

"Don't care."

"Please Naru-sama?"

"No, bad Kisu. Stop trying to convince me to do things!" Of course, for those who are not as gifted with the canine tongue, the former conversation might have been rather confusing.  
>To Naru though, it was her partner's latest attempts to make her reconcile with her father, Minato Namikaze.<p>

"I guess you inherited my love of ramen." Naru immediatly began choking on the aforementioned noodle entree.

"So?" Naru pouted childishly. Crap, now she was talking to the man she had tried to hate just last night. Damn, where was lady luck when you needed her?

"I know it doesn't help, but I'm sorry." He sighed, turning back to his noodles. He should have known this would happen. It would take more than bonding over a bowl of ramen to bring back the baby girl he'd never known.

Still, he could keep trying. Maybe oneday he could have his baby girl back again.

Minato watched as his daughter walked away with her hands behind her head and a confident spring in her step.  
>Her walk was so much like Kushina's, even though they'd never known eachother. They acted much the same too, though she'd gotten his looks. Although he guessed it was for the best. If she looked like Kushina he might be pained to look at her.<p>

Naru attacked the post until her knuckles bled and her anger and frustration had all but drained away. She was too tired to take another swipe and she knew her hands would be sore in the morning.  
>Still though, she was at least satisfied with her performance. Even when she wanted to break down and demand why he'd cursed her, she'd kept calm and had walked away like the bigger person.<p>

But now that the anger was gone, her shields lie forgotten, and for a little while, she became the seven year old girl she was.  
>Even if it was only for a little while.<p>

Itachi watched the new genin train until she collapsed, but never once broke cover. It was strange to see another person who had graduated at his age, he wasn't sure what to think of it.  
>Now that she was a genin, would he still have to guard her all the time? What about when she was on missions?<p>

With Shino, he and his team were sitting at their training ground. Their sensei was a young woman by the name of Anko Miterashi, and thus far it appeared he wouldn't live to see chunin.  
>His kikai were actively urging him to run in the opposite direction every time that woman smiled at him.<p>

"Alright gaki, now we get to the real training session!" After a three hour 'warm up', Shino could not be blamed for showing emotion by way of a twitching eyebrow.  
>Any Aburame in his shoes would be unable but to do the same. The woman was just that crazy.<p>

"Too slow gaki, at this rate you won't last till dinner!" He should probably pay more attention to the crazy lady throwing kunai at him. Yes, he should.

"Team today we will take our first mission!" Ebisu announced the next morning. With mixed feelings of nervousness and excitement, they made their way to the Hokage tower to get their missions.  
>The poor fools had no idea what they were in for.<p>

"Ahem, Hokage-sama, if I might be so bold as to request a D-ranked mission for my team?" Ebisu asked the blonde man bheind the mission's desk.  
>Behind him, Naru tried to become one with the wall paper. She really did not want to be here right now, even if she was going to possibly get a really cool mission.<p>

Kisu sighed when he saw his mistress' tactics but didn't say anything. It would take a while for this broken pack to reunite, but he'd be patient.  
>On the bright side, at least the blonde man was willing to try to bridge the gap. Now if only he could get Naru-sama to reach back.<p>

"Alright, we have retrieve the fire daimyo's wife's cat, wash the Inuzuka kennels, repair the training grounds, pick up trash along the river, or go shopping for old lady Haruhi." Minato listed from the pile on his desk.  
>Ah yes, the agape mouths of newly minted genin as they recieved their first D-rank missions. Nothing better.<p>

"Those aren't missions! Those are chores that academy babies could do!" Naru raged once the shock had finally registered. No way, was she doing chores, right after finally graduating at only seven years old!  
>She had worked way to hard for something like this!<p>

"I'm sorry you don't agree, but this is the sort of thing genin do to help their teamwork and strength grow before going on missions where they risk their lives." Minato told her. Honestly it was taking everything not to smile, but it was a close thing.  
>She was reacting just like Kushina used to.<p>

"We will take the cat retrieval hokage-sama." Ebisu decided quickly. It looked like he would have to teach Naru some manners for her betters but it really wasn't her fault.  
>She'd grown up in such an unseemly manner, she couldn't be expected to know how to behave. Besides, she was still young, she could learn.<p>

"Alright, here you are." Minato smiled, handing over the scroll. It looked like he had just found his amusement for the day.  
>As soon as they left his office, Minato dug out the crystal hokage's ball and a bowl of popcorn.<p>

"I wonder if she'll try to kill it like Kushina." He pondered aloud. Oh well, he'd just have to see.

Hiashi could be found at his compound entrance when Neji made it back home. After all, he would need to announce the engagement now.  
>Of course, since it was only a paper engagement, it wouldn't be wildly known by the populous. Only later on, if both Naru and Neji agreed, would the two wed. If that happened, the Hyuga would land much prestige.<p>

But first, Neji had to make the girl fall in love with him. It shouldn't be too hard.

"Hiashi-sama, good day." Neji greeted demurely upon his return from the academy.

"Neji, I need to speak with you in private. Join me for some tea." Hiashi instructed him. Neji followed in slight surprise after his uncle and into the tea house.  
>Something big must be up if the great Hiashi Hyuga was deigning to speak with him.<p>

"Neji, you know of course that the Hyuga have much prestige and friends in high places, do you not?" Hiashi asked conversationally.

"Hai." Neji replied, almost curtly.

"Well, I happen to be an aquaintence of Yondaime-sama, and we have conferred at length. You see, as a man with his reputation, his enemies would do anything to harm him. That would include attacking family members." Where was he going with this? As if his imagination wasn't already on over drive.

"Hai." He answered a little more hesitantly.

"Then it will come as no surprise that he hid his daughter from the world during his coma so she would be protected." Yes, yes it will come as a surprise. It will be a huge surprise. Especially since it was such a well kept secret.

"A-A daughter?" He stammered. Great, now he sounded like Hinata-sama!

"Yes, she is a year younger than you at seven but has recently graduated from the academy. Her name is Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze and she is your fiancee." Okay, he could almost understand and register the hidden daughter thing, but the fiance part blew him away.

"Minato-dono has already signed the engagement papers, but as of yet it is merely a paper engagement. Meaning that unless Naru agrees later on, you will not be forced to marry." Hiashi continued, pretending not to notice his nephew's shocked expression.

"Of course, if this marriage falls through we will gain precedence over our rivals the Uchiha clan. Our only obstacle is if the Uchiha also push forth a paper engagement. They have a son who is her same age, named Sasuke." That was his biggest worry. What if the girl chose Sasuke over Neji simply for the fact that they were closer in age, even if a year wasn't much.

"That is why I want you to train harder and graduate as soon as possible. So long as you are able to make contact with her and begin drawing her in. It is imperative she choose you over any other suitor. Will you do this?" Of course it wasn't a matter of choice. As a branch member, he would be forced to accept, whether he wanted to marry this girl or not.

"Of course Hiashi-sama." He had one hope left. The girl might not like him at all! He'd never met Naru Uzumaki-Namikaze, though he'd heard _of_ her.

"Good. Your first objective will be to meet her. If you see a girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and three whisker like marks on each cheeks, challenge her to a spar. Claim you want to see where you stand against someone with her talent." Hiashi left him alone then to plot out his new 'mission' and his future.

"N-Neji-niisan?" Hinata had walked into the dojo to see her cousin training hours after she had finished for the night.

"F-Father told me t-that you were b-b-betrothed to N-Naru-san." Hinata knew Naru from the academy, but Naru had passed the early graduation exam.  
>It had been humbling, because it meant the lowest in the class had been one of the two to graduate after such a short time. She kind of hoped it meant she could do the same thing next year, if she trained enough.<p>

"Hai. Is there something you can tell me about her?" Normally he wouldn't ask anything of his cousin, but he didn't know anything substantial about his fiance and he would need all the help he could get.

"H-Hai. She respects strength a-and she doesn't en-enjoy lectures. S-she is a-always full of energy. S-she also likes foxes, she has a-a n-ninken fox named K-Kisu." Neji listened quietly as she relayed how Naru liked bright colors, how she hated a kunoichi's duties, about her ingenuity in her prank pulling, her amazing skill. Everything she'd ever noticed about the young blonde.

"T-That's all I know." Hinata finished apologetically before dismissing herself. Today she'd take a leaf from her cousin's book and train some more in privacy.

"Thank you." Neji murmured, just before she was out of hearing range. He reasserted his cold Hyuga mask and went back to training. He had to graduate soon if he was going to make any headway with his new fiancee.

Naru was about three steps away from beheading their mission objective, the one tailed devil cat Tora.  
>For the last four hours they had chased that mangy feline, trying desperatly to catch the demon star of any genin's nightmare.<p>

"I wonder if Cat ribs taste any good." Naru growled. Kisu seemed to shrug in answer before sweeping around to cut off the escape route.

"Damnit! Kisu, pincer manuever!" Naru ordered, jolting forward to grab the cat as it dashed away from the fox kit that had appeared behind it.

"Sensei, target Tora captured." Harumaru panted over the wireless line. Even with his byakugan, that cat had avoided them for the better part of the day.

"Good job team, let's get it back to the tower." Ebisu ordered over the comlink. Naru ended up carrying the cat by the scruff of it's neck at arm's length all the way back to the tower.

Minato felt a sudden urge to kill the cat when he saw the state his daughter was in. Her clothes were torn, she had scratches on her arms, legs, and face, and she herself looked angry enough to explode at the hapless animal.

"Congratulations team six, you've just completed your first mission!" Minato said with false cheer. He began the mental countdown.

"With all due respect Hokage-baka, never give us a D-rank again." Naru growled, handing off the feline to it's owner for just punishment.

"All genin have to take them Naru. If it helps, even I did." He tried to palcate the girl.

"Fine, we did one. Now give us a C-rank next time." Naru scowled.

"Sorry, but you have to complete a minimum of 20 D-ranks to get one C-rank." No one was going to find the body. She promised that much at least.

"Collect your pay for the day and go about your daily training schedules team. Meet tomorrow at eight at the training ground." Ebisu instructed them. Harumaru and Shikon did so immediatly, followed closely by Naru and Kisu.

"Naru-sama, please try talking to him." Kisu pleaded before they left.

"We already did Kisu. Come on, it's time to train." Naru muttered, walking out the door without looking back.  
>Kisu shook his head sadly before trotting after her. He couldn't leave her alone after all.<p>

Naru trained the same as yesterday. After her physical excercises she moved on to tree walking. She still hadn't gotten it down, but she was close.  
>Then she would move on to leaf twirling, while tree walking. Then water walking after that.<p>

Kisu did the same excercises. He knew doing these would help his meager chakra levels increase and he knew he had to have a lot more chakra to be of use to his mistress.  
>He needed to get stronger. He had to be good enough. He couldn't let her down!<p>

"Kisu, do you think I should use that contract?" Kisu looked over from his spot half way up the tree to where his mistress was standing on the opposite tree.

"It would be a boon Naru-sama, but it depends on how you want to be known." He advised.

"A vixen, that's how I want to be known." Naru said decisively.

"A kunoichi who uses underhanded tricks, lies, and deciet to get what she wants in the end. That's gonna be me." She said, rushing forward up the tree, all the way to the tree.

"Then let's use it. Because no one's going to expect it." Kisu barked.

"Naru, can I talk to you and Kisu?" A random voice spoke from out of nowhere, which incedentally completely totalled their concentration, sending them crashing to the ground.

"Tousan or not, no one is going to find the body." Naru swore, glaring at the man who made her fall just when she got to the top.

"Naru, Kushina would be so proud of you." Minato said with a soft smile. Kushina, that was the name of her mother.

"When a kid becomes a genin, it's ceremonial to award them a gift for passing. Neither Kushina or I had anyone to give us anything when we graduated, and I know you hate me, but I still got something for you." He said, holding out a kunai.

It was a strange kunai in that it had three prongs, and on the handle was a seal. It was a stylish design, and unless one was a master, one would never know that it was anything more than that.  
>But she knew what it was for.<p>

"I don't hate you." Naru grumbled, trying not to look at the present. That would be the first present she would ever recieve.

"If you throw this kunai, you just have to flare your chakra and you'll reappear at it's location." He informed her, handing the knife to her.  
>Naru took it somewhat hesitantly. She wanted to be her own person, but she so wanted a family!<p>

Her hands were shaking, and she could feel her eyes tearing up. She kept her head bowed, trying not to show her tears.  
>She felt the hand on her head, patting down her hair in a companionable silence. It felt comfortable, safe.<p>

"I wanted to hate you." She admitted, maybe to herself, maybe to him. Kisu watched from a distance.

"All my life I've been hated and ignored, because you sealed away a demon inside me." A few drops fell to the ground now, wetting the Earth at her feet.

"I know, you couldn't exactly ask someone else to give up their baby, but it still hurt that you would use me like that!" She probably sounded like such a baby right then, but she was beyond caring.  
>She wasn't a shinobi right then, she was a little girl. No one could begrudge her those tears. Nor that comfort.<p>

Minato held his daughter for the first time in years. Her small body racked in sobs that she valiantly tried to stifle.  
>When she had no more tears to spill, seven long years worth of tears, her body stilled and her breath evened out. She had cried herself to sleep.<p>

Kisu jumped into the other outstretched arm and expierienced the strange sensation of being moved very quickly to somewhere far away.  
>It wasn't painful, or uncomfortable, but it certainly was dizzying for a first time. Hopefully it would get better as time wore on.<p>

Minato tucked his daughter into bed for the first time, and allowed Kisu to sleep curled up next to her.  
>He nodded respectfully over to where Itachi was hiding and closed the door on his way out. As an afterthought, he left it open a crack, to let a little light in from the hallway.<p>

Naru slept, clutching that tri-pronged kunai to her small chest as though it were a dear treasure.

Days passed in much the same way. Sometimes they'd take missions, others they would train together as a team. At the end of the day Naru would finish up with more taijutsu training and chakra control.  
>She made a lot of progress over the days, both in skill, and at home.<p>

Minato knew she was independent, and so allowed her to come and go as she pleased. Sometimes she slept in his house, sometimes at her apartment.  
>They would take time to become a real family, but for now it was enough to keep both of them occupied.<p>

Konoha was peaceful, no pranks wired it's ANBU, no spies were caught, no fires to put out, no troublesome elders to deal with.  
>They got comfortable in their peace, and as always, that's when trouble came to visit, with his brother Chaos.<p>

The Chunin exam location was chosen three months before they would have to leave to join. This year's chunin exams would be held in Iwagakure, the village hidden in the stone.  
>And the number one enemy of Konohagakure ever since the third shinobi war when Minato completely eradicated over one third of Iwa's forces.<p>

Minato groaned when he read the letter of notice he had recieved and seriously considered announcing to the village that they would not be participating in the exams this time.  
>It would only be a short six months before another exam came up in a different, less hostile, village.<p>

"What do you think I should do?" He asked the ever silent ANBU guard.

"..." As per the usual routine, the ANBU did not answer. But that was to be expected. What wasn't expected is the events that happened directly after that.

"I think you should let me go to Iwa, kick ass, take names, and make me a chunin." Minato jumped out of his chair and twisted around to see Naru standing on the eve of the window.

"How long have you been there?" He asked her.

"Couple minutes." She answered. Kisu huffed a little laugh and hopped into the room. They'd gotten up there through the use of the tree walking excercise.  
>Of course, at the same time Naru had been spinning her tri-pronged kunai on the palm of her hands for an extra challenge.<p>

They'd already mastered water walking as well and were working on more ninja arts, such as traps, sabotauge, escape, infiltration, demolition, fuinjutsu, the works.  
>If Naru had heard of it, she tried to figure out how it was done so she could recreate it. She loved growing stronger and if it strengthened her, even her mind, she'd devote some effort towards it.<p>

At almost eight years old she was more than ready for chunin. She just needed a challenge.

"I'm not comfortable about sending you there. As my daughter they might try something." Minato reasoned.

"It hasn't been anounced that your my dad yet though." Naru pointed out.

"Just make the anouncement after I become a chunin and our problems vanish." She had agreed to letting the anouncement be made, but she still wanted to retain her independence. Hence she would be keeping the name Uzumaki and adding the Namikaze at the end.

"You don't know for certain that Ebisu is even going to sign you up for the exams though." Minato sighed hopefully. With his strict regimen Ebisu might not sign them up for the next _three _years. A father could dream.

"I already threatened him with hog tying him up above the women's side of the hot springs if he didn't submit us." And like many dreams, his was broken down.

"Your too much like your mother." Yeah, it still hurt sometimes to think about Kushina, but he was moving on. He'd never forget her, and would probably never marry again, but he had her daughter at least.  
>There was still some Kushina inside her.<p>

"Way I hear you talk that's not a bad thing." Naru said good naturedly. After that they sat in silence for some time, neither wanting to break apart this newfound peace they'd stumbled on to.  
>It was rare when Naru could stand to seek out his presence, even rarer when she stayed after a short conversation.<p>

"See ya later old man!" Naru finally said, jumping back out the window before she could hear Minato's protests that he was not an 'old man'.

Laughing to herself as she skipped down the street, Naru planned out what she would do for the rest of the day.  
>First she'd go to that store that sold the affinity paper, then make a trip for the library for some lower ranked jutsu, then restock on seal paper and ink, then she'd have to replenish her diminished exploding tag supplies.<p>

"Busy, busy, busy." She sang quietly. Kisu grinned as he watched his mistress' good mood play out.

"Good evening Naru-san." The blonde's eyes popped open and she turned around to see Shino standing right behind her.

"Do you get your jollies from sneaking up on people?" She asked him seriously. He hadn't changed much, but then again, neither had she.

"I was hoping you would be kind enough to join me in a spar as per our usual arrangement." Since barely a week since graduating the two had met up for spars to see how far they'd gotten since becoming genin.  
>Now it was more a habit than anything.<p>

END OF THE CHAPTER AWESOME I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THIS FOOL CHAPPIE!

LC; Awesome. Perfectly and wonderfully and excitedly awesome.

Naruto; Well at least it's over for the time being.

Sasuke; I thought she'd never finish.

LC; Hey! Have some faith in your master!

Naruto; Kishimoto? Are you kidding? That bastard hasn't given me a decent jutsu in like fifty chapters!

LC;...You raise a good point here.

Sasuke; I wonder what exactly is in his pipe and where I can get some.

LC; Oh, it's a special brand of Super Weed. You can only get it if you are on Drug Benefits.

Naruto; What's that?

LC; It's an organization the drug overlords made for people who took drugs on a regular basis.

Sasuke; How do you know about that?

LC; I happen to be a card carrying member.


	7. Crank

LC; Time for more to this story! I'm thinking it's time the fiancees meet!

Naruto; So I'm going to meet Neji in this chapter?

LC; Neh, maybe. I haven't decided. Probably not. But maybe so.

Sasuke; You never plan out your stories. I'm amazed you can stick to them.

LC; Planning them is no fun at all! I hate all those pre-writing excercises teachers do!

Naruto; Yeah, those bubble graphs are stupid.

Sasuke; And brain storming must be pretty hard since storms don't appear in vacums.

LC; Was that a crack at my intelligence?

Sasuke; I don't know. You tell me.

LC; I think it was. Now I have to kill you. Too bad.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto! He is not mine! However I reserve the right to use him for my sick and twisted amusement whenever the urge hits me!

Chapter 7; First mission outside, why _shouldn't _the shit hit the fan?

Well on one hand, twenty D-ranks for one C-rank was the deal and they had done twenty D-ranks. On the other, leaving the village a was a big step and he wanted to make sure his students were ready.  
>So to be absolutely sure they were ready, he had given them all different lessons.<p>

For Shikon he gave her lessons in diplomacy, tea ceremony, and geisha training. For Harumaru he gave lessons on tactics, catching someone in a lie, and some theories on elemental manipulation.

Naru was a little harder for him to focus on. In his mind she had so many defficencies that he wasn't sure where to begin. Manners was first, that much was certain. He thought briefly about giving her some geisha lessons too, perhaps an instrument, but it showed quite plainly she wanted no part in it. On top of that she was simply too young to put any kunoichi body fighting lessons to good use.

She was adamant about not learning something she knew for a fact wasn't going to save her life one day. After a failed lecture on how hobbies such as music could help keep a shinobi sane, he had eventually released her.

"Naru-sama he is only trying to help." Kisu tried to calm his aggravated mistress down some hours later. She had been positively fuming when they left the Ebisu-closet perv.

"Yeah? Can't he help without constantly talking about 'my lack of upbringing'? If he knew who my dad was he'd be tripping over himself to kiss my ass." Despite the coarse language, Kisu knew it was probably true. They had seen how the man acted around people of noble birth and in his own mind it was rather pathetic.

Naru couldn't help but agree, along with adding her own spin on things. By spin, she of course meant trying to figure out why he did that.  
>Was it some kind of traumatic expierience that made him hate people of normal birth and put noble people up on a pedastal? Was he taught as a child that those with money ruled? She had many theories.<p>

"Oh well, guess the why doesn't really doesn't matter in this case." The child decided upon sighting the training ground.

Today she would be working on mastering a wind jutsu, Great Breakthrough sounded like a pretty cool jutsu to her ears.

"Yosh! Today I'll master it!" She shouted firmly, happy and content to have a jutsu to work on and a little free time to work on it.

Her goal for the long term would be to knock down trees with her blast, but for the short term she'd settle for knocking a kunai out of it's place lodged in a branch.  
>She figured this way she could work on her aim, chakra control, and restraint, all in one!<p>

"Are you Naru Uzumaki?" Distracted from her jutsu hand seals, she mentally grumbled about boys with lousy timing before turning to the new comer.

He was maybe a year or so older than her. His hair was pretty long, fuller than her's for sure. His eyes were pretty pale, like Harumaru's. He was wearing black training clothes.

"Yeah I'm Naru. You have me at a disadvantage though, I don't know your name." She started politely. If this guy had come all this way to talk to her she may as well be accomodating.

"My name is Neji Hyuga, eight years old and still in the academy. I came to ask for a spar, so I can see how I match up against you." He said graciously. Naru thought it over for a minute before decided to agree. It would just be like sparring with Harumaru and she doubted a kid Neji's age would be as good with the gentle fist style and the byakugan than a twelve year old like him.

"I don't see the harm in it, my jutsu can wait." She shrugged, releasing the pent up chakra and turning to face her apparent opponent.

"So any specific rules?" She asked good naturedly. If this guy wanted to treat her seriously, she would extend to him the same honor.

"Nothing fatal, but other than that, to get an accurate answer I wish to go all out." Neji stated. At the moment things were looking rather promising. She was obviously skilled and mannerly, which gave her a few points in his favor.

"Sounds good, maybe this way I can see where I stand better against someone with the byakugan. Harumaru is my teammate but he always wins because of his greater size." She told him.

"Harumaru is a relative of mine, he is my second cousin." Neji replied with slight surprise. He hadn't known Harumaru had his future fiancee on his team. It would've made tracking the blonde girl down a lot easier.

"Kisu, stay out of the fight unless I need you." Naru instructed her nin-ken. The little fox nodded before going to the shade of the trees. Naru realized with a jolt how much her little few weeks old kit had grown in their time together. Now he was almost as big as a full grown cat and still growing.

"Let's begin Neji-san." She then said excitedly, pushing away the strange feelings that had just ran past her barriers. She dropped into the Trickster's stance and prepared for the gentle onslaught sure to follow.

For a moment, both stood frozen, looking for openings to exploit. Neji saw a couple in the younger girl's stance and his eyes flared to life as he charged with one arm outstretched, sure to hit his target.

Naru allowed a small smile before her right arm twitched, miniscule a movement as it was, it was enough like a real shinobi preparing to attack that it made Neji's steps falter as he gazed momentarily at the offensive limb.  
>Naru used that moment to move just to the side so she caught his outstretched palm.<p>

Using his own momentum against him she twisted their body's around, making him fall face first to the dirt down below.

For a second Neji didn't even try to get up. He was absolutely stunned by that shocking display of deceipt on the battle field that it had left him numb and tongue tied.  
>Here a girl younger than him-though admittedly one who had passed the early graduation exam-had knocked him down barely ten seconds into their match.<br>It was humbling.

"Are you okay to keep going?" A voice asked behind him. Gripping the dirt beneath him, he pushed himself up and turned again to face Naru Uzumaki, who fate had decreed might one day be his bride.  
>He would need to work hard to be strong, starting today.<p>

"Let's see if fate has decreed if I win or lose." It was too close to tell for him, but fate always had everything written in stone. All it took was for him to get to that point first.

"A firm believer in fate eh? Aren't we both a little young to have our futures planned out so perfectly?" Naru murmured, her eyes dimming for a milisecond before putting everything she had into this fight.  
>This would be a good measure for her. To see if she was ready.<p>

Sometimes Neji would block one of her tenkutsu, sometimes she would hit him hard and knock him down. Within moments it became more of a 'Let's see who can dodge who the longest' game.  
>The object of the game, was not to be touched. Because both opponents knew firsthand that would hurt.<p>

After for the fourth time knocking Neji a decent distance away Naru barked for Kisu to join her. She'd need the extra help if the more difficult moves of the Trickster's style were needed. Roaring forward to a just-righted Neji, she thought for a moment on how strange life was.

If a normal person had blinked at the moment of impact, they wouldn't see the following actions. Naru put on the brakes and almost doubled over backwards to evade a strike to the chest before putting all her weight onto her hands and sweeping away his legs before Neji could move out of the way.

Not stopping or slowing despite the change in direction the young blonde pivoted on her hands and pushed him back farther where he tripped over Kisu and landed hard on the ground.  
>Naru jumped up and grabbed his left hand, knowing he would find it more difficult to attack with that hand, and she twisted him around.<p>

The end result was her sitting on his lower back holding his left hand aloft, not so it would be broken or popped out of the socket, but enough to be rather painful.

Using her only free hand, Naru drew a kunai and held it against his jugular to finish the match.

"Your very strong, and your byakugan's really hard to get around. But even if you can see me coming, if you aren't fast enough to get out of the way you'll be bowled over!" Naru giggled. It was nice to actually _win _a spar every once in a while.

"I never thought of that before." Neji admitted. Perhaps he had been neglecting his speed training too much. He'd have to work a lot harder to graduate sooner. He had to get into the same field as this Naru Uzumaki secretly Namikaze.

Perhaps he was just fated to be weaker than her? Somehow though, he couldn't bring himself to agree with the thought. For the first time in a very long time, Neji Hyuga turned from fate in order to walk the harder path.  
>It would be the first of many, if only he could see what his beloved fate was pulling over his special eyes.<p>

_The Next Day!_

"Hokage-sama, team six humbly requests for a C-ranked mission as we have completed the required twenty D-ranks." Ebisu-sensei asked respectfully. A decade ago if someone had told him that he'd be addressing Minato Namikaze in such a way he would have scoffed. My how the mighty have fallen.

"Very well, I think I have a simple one for you." As soon as he said that he could just _feel _his daughter's glare at the insinuation. Was it so wrong for a father to try and protect his daughter by giving her an easy C-rank? Was it?

"It's a mission to the Land of Tea where you will deliver some cargo to a man named Ichigo Hirtogane." He told them, handing Ebisu-sensei the scroll.

"As great as getting out of the village for the first time sounds, I wish it didn't mean I couldn't finish my new jutsu. I'm so close to mastering the Great Breakthrough." Naru mumbled to her little furry buddy as they left the office.

The mission started the next day at nine in the morning. Naru saw the three carts they were expected to pull and again cursed her lack of height.

"Ebisu-sensei, looks like you'll be helping with cart pulling duty." Shikon sighed tiredly. She was always tired, but it always varied in degrees. Today seemed to be one of her worst days. Most likely because she was going on a higher ranked mission.

"What do you mean Shikon? Three genin and three carts." Ebisu questioned, in what in his little world may have been a sensible tone.

"Naru-san is too short to pull the cart." Harumaru pointed out. Even though she had come to the same conclusion earlier, it irked her that it be pointed out. Why did she have to have a ditz for a sensei?

"Ah, I see your point. However she will have to over come it. This will be good physical training." Ebisu however could not hide the disgust in his eyes as he eyed the cart. He just thought it beneath him to pull the cart himself it seemed. Naru mentally pushed him to the top of her 'must prank' list.

"Yeah, and the first time we go downhill I'll get ran over and you can explain to the hokage why your student died with twin wheel marks on her clothes!" Naru grumbled, as if her height wasn't bad enough the weight alone might kill her.

If they were attacked she'd certainly be too exhausted to help in the battle at all.

"Come now Naru, how do you expect to keep up to your well bred teammates if you don't push yourself?" Ebisu cracked at her, pushing up his glasses.

"Pushing myself is one thing, dying by way of cart accident is another." Naru snapped. Already, just five minutes out of the gate and her arms were screaming. She could barely match one step for their every four!  
>At this rate they wouldn't get to Tea until next year!<p>

Kisu watched from the atop the cargo in his mistress' cart and couldn't help but wonder as to Ebisu's self preservation instincts. Maybe he was born without any, that might explain a couple things.

Within another ten minutes the two twelve year olds and their sensei turned to check on their younger partner only to see she was barely within the line of sight.

"This is getting ridiculous sensei, her body's simply too young and small to carry such a weight on her own." Harumaru could understand strengthening her, but forcing her to slow them down by such a rate when it could be avoided was truly unacceptable in his eyes.

"I had hoped she would last longer." Ebisu sighed, conveniently ignoring the reproachful looks on his students' faces.

"There's a word for men like you who are too lazy to help a kid. It's Troublesome." Shikon normally would not care either way. But that would only be if Naru wasn't so obviously unable to keep up.  
>Genin of Konoha may have been her title and rank, but damn it all if she wasn't a Nara woman first and foremost. A Nara woman did not allow children to be misused in ways like this! It was unthinkable and completely troublesome!<p>

"I suppose as soon as she catches up to us I can take over for a while. It's only right that I aid her when things get too tough as her sensei!" By the way he said one would think it was originally his intention to pull the cart.

Within a few more minutes Naru was relieved of her duties and allowed to rest in the same cart Ebisu pulled in order to rest up and regain her breath.  
>It was only a couple more minutes before her breathing regulated again and she became the self same bottle of pent up energy they were now so accustomed to.<p>

"Naru I believe it's time we began your training on concentration." He had been watching her move back and forth between his other two charges when he realized what it was that was her worst problem.  
>She simply had too much trouble concentrating on one thing at a time and so she was constantly in motion.<p>

"Concentration?" She questioned, obviously not getting what he was hinting at.

"I want you to retrieve two kunai from your pouch and set them evenly on your palm. Next spend as long a time as you can making them spin first in one direction, then the other." He instructed. Normally something like this would be done with leaves, but he felt that with her natural talent she would pick this up much faster.

Besides, it would keep her entertained and out of his air for a few hours at least and he could focus on watching for any ambushes that any ne'er do wells might attempt on the lives and cargo he was guarding.

Meanwhile, Naru was busy trying to find the exact mix of chakra that would make those heavy kunai spin where using leaves was effortless.  
>At first they twitched erratically with no set pattern and definitely no set direction. At least now she could make them twitch towards the right.<p>

It was many hours later before they set up camp for the night that she began wondering about twirling them in opposite directions. One kunai to the right and the other to the left. That would be more challenging, but in theory it could be done.  
>The only question was how long would it take for her to master that? If she did, would it help with learning any jutsu later on?<p>

"Kisu, come on it's time for bed!" Naru said, having laid out her sleeping bag and already lying down. The little forrest fox nodded and curled up next to her and fell asleep almost instantly.  
>Naru lie awake a while longer, watching the fox's body move up and down in the easy rhythm of sleep.<p>

'Alot has happened since we met, huh Kisu?' She thought tiredly, watching her nin-ken, her partner, sleep.

'We've become real shinobi, met my father, mastered techniques together, gone on missions, even fought together even though we lost pretty badly. You've always been by my side, even after learning about the demon, the Kyubi.' With this last darker thought her eyes drifted closed and her breathing evened out.

Ebisu looked over to his sleeping students before leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree and closing his eyes. This mission was after all only a C-rank, little chance of ninja confrontation. It wouldn't matter whether or not they set up a rotation shift because any bandits that stumbled upon them would make much more noise than a ninja and thus wake him.

So he didn't feel too badly about falling asleep.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Ebisu's eyes shot open and he slit the throat of one attacker before his mind had caught up to his body's movements.  
>The scream had been Shikon, who was now covered in the scarlet blood of the man he had just killed.<p>

Behind him he could hear Harumaru fighting and winning against his opponent although he wasn't making any moves to finish the man off.  
>What worried him was the lack of shouting from Naru.<p>

"Where's Naru?" He asked Shikon. Had they already taken his student hostage? Had she been killed before he woke up?

"She drew off three of them!" Shikon yelled, already moving towards that direction where he could now hear signs of a battle.

Before going to the aid of his youngest charge he threw three kunai into the heart, throat, and head of Harumaru's opponent.  
>These two had only been genin, missing nin from the looks of them. He could only pray the other three would be as easy to dispatch.<p>

His fears were proven true when he found Kisu's half dead form lying on the ground halfway to the clearing where Naru was fighting for her life. The young fox was fast on his feet and tricky to catch, but his life's blood was spilling.

"**I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU FOR HURTING HIM!" **It was a dark and oppresive chakra, despite it's lively colouring. He hadn't felt this chakra in over seven years, but here now, Naru was drawing on it in pain and rage for the injury of her companion.

Ebisu wasn't sure who to pity, Naru for her loss, or her opponent.

"Harumaru, patch up Kisu. Shikon stay here with him and don't let your guards down. If an enemy comes at you aim to kill!" He instructed, rushing off to his youngest student before his other pupils could question his orders.

**"I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE HERE ALIVE! NO ONE TOUCHES MY FRIENDS! NO ONE!" **Her eyes were clouded with hate and she could barely distinguish one enemy from the other.  
>Kisu had fallen while they were driving them away from the others, and she wasn't sure if he was alright.<p>

Seeing him lying there, motionless as he had been, it had caused something inside her to snap. Trust to her was a fragile thing and so she only trusted those that she percieved as worth the risk.  
>She had subconciously trusted that Kisu would be with her for a long time yet, and that trust had been broken by a stray kunai.<p>

**"Great Breakthrough jutsu!" **She called out. Something was putting a veil over her vision, something that was a deep red.  
>Without knowing she could instinctively tell this was the Kyubi's power, or at least a fraction of it. It was rather humbling to know that this amazing strength she currently possesed was only the dregs of that monster's power.<p>

"NARU!" Suddenly two of the enemies fell and she had slashed an elongated claw over the throat of the third. The fight was over.

As if the fox heard her, the tainted chakra drained away, leaving an exhausted and battered little kid. Naru could still smell the blood though.  
>It was in her hair, on her clothes, and dripping from her hands. It wasn't her own.<p>

"E-Ebisu-sensei?" She knew the answer, but she needed some encouragement. Some kind of confirmation that the nightmare was over and she was really still alive at the cost of another's.

"Kisu will be alright, he's just lost a bit of blood." Ebisu said delicately. He didn't believe her to be the fox, but what he had just seen worried him. Would she react that way every time Kisu or perhaps one of them were injured?

"Thank Kami." She sighed, the tension going from her shoulders. Ebisu noticed her right arm was shaking. The same arm covered and dripping with the heart's blood of a chunin.  
>A missing nin of chunin rank from Sunagakure.<p>

The rest of the night Naru sat ram rod straight, holding a still unconcious Kisu in her lap and delicately petting his soft fur.  
>After the fight she had jumped into a river in a vain attempt of washing away the blood and it's thick stench. Her hair was stained with a red glow, a stubborn one that would not leave. Her hand was clean, but she could still swear she felt blood that wasn't her own dripping down it even now.<p>

It wasn't really until the fight had been over for many hours that she realized she had taken a life already. She had killed a ninja. She had killed a man.

Ebisu watched the emotions playing in his student's eyes and sighed in the safe confines of his own mind. Harumaru and Shikon were taking it rather well, though Shikon had spent nearly twenty minutes getting the blood out of her clothes before she gave up and accepted the stain was there to stay.

However neither of them had been forced to take a life, and he didn't know if they knew that Naru had or how they felt about that. Had they felt the Kyubi's chakra? It seemed so from the cautious looks they kept shifting to the younger girl.

None of them slept the rest of the night. Ebisu himself barely blinked.

A week later they delivered their cargo and began the much faster trip home. Ebisu was still trying to think of something to say to his quieter than usual student.  
>She appeared to have bounced back admiredly well, especially after Kisu had begun being able to walk on his own. Ebisu however only grew more worried.<p>

Was she bottling away her emotions and hiding behind a playful mask? Sometimes he could see the strain in her cheeks, the smile not quite reaching her ears as the saying went.  
>What if she was becoming another emotionless soldier. What if she couldn't come to terms with the requirments of their career on her own.<p>

He knew his duty as a sensei. When his student made his first kill he should be there to talk to her. He should help her accept their life or choose a different path.  
>He hoped fervently that she would not choose the latter. She had such potential!<p>

"Naru, I wanted to ask you how you felt about your first kill." He had waited until they were alone, save for Kisu of course. But then, finding a time when Naru was without her foxy companion would have been nigh impossible after that fight.

"...I'm fine." Her voice was a little _too _steady, a little hesitant as well.

"As shinobi and kunoichi we will be asked to take lives, and sometimes lives of the innocent. It's important we not let that cloud our judgement though. That's why genin are put with jounin, so the jounin can explain about the ins and outs of being a ninja." He told her, speaking quietly but knowing she was hearing every word that passd his lips.

"So what? I should be able to kill without ever feeling bad about it?" It was posed as a childish question, but he could hear the desperation.

"Not at all. Rather it's _because_ you feel bad about it that I think this is the right path for you." He could sense her confusion, so he elaborated.

"Some say the first time's the hardest, but we of Konoha preach a different truth. We think the hardest is about the fiftieth." He waited for the expected 'why' and was not dissappointed.

"Because that's when it gets easy. It'll get easier as time wears on, but it's when it no longer bothers you and you can kill dozens at a time that you have to worry. Because if you can do that and not see their faces in your dreams, then you have become a monster." He left her then to think on what he had said. There was simply no other way for him to word it and he would only get tongue tied if he stayed any longer.

The rest of the trip back to Konoha didn't take long. A day at most at their fast shinobi pace.  
>Naru seemed more at ease now and her smiles were a little more sincere. He hoped this meant she was moving on.<br>She had such potential!

They returned to the village and he let them all go free while he dropped off the report at the tower personally. He would need to tell Hokage-sama about the Kyubi's chakra slipping through the seal, to settle his own nerves if nothing else.  
>He'd also need to think about how to broach that particular subject with his energetic student.<p>

It was two hours later when Ebisu had left after regailing him with tales of their mission. Minato had finished his paperwork for the day, or rather a clone had, and he was now thinking about his daughter.

From Ebisu's report, she was taking it rather well and showed no signs of wanting to quit or becoming an emotionless killing machine.

Nodding to himself, he put on his kage's hat and left the office. He knew just where he'd find her! It was time to do his fatherly duty and see if his baby girl needed anything.  
>Perhaps a war against Suna for letting their missing nin mess up her beautiful hair?<p>

As it turned out, she wasn't at the ramen stand, the apartment, or his house. In the end he looked on the Hokage monument, and there he struck gold.  
>Both figuratively and literally when one considers her hair.<p>

"Hey kiddo! You didn't come and tell me about your mission!" Minato faux complained. First he should see how she was holding up before going on some speil.

"Hey." Naru said deadly. She was tired, achy in places she didn't even know she had places, and really not in the mood.

"Ebisu told me about the big picture but I'd like to hear the little details if you don't mind." He said, sitting by her side and looking over the nice picture Konoha made. Sights like these reminded him, in the dreary night when he was swamped with paperwork, why he wanted the title kage.

"It was fine up until we stopped for the night." She began, somewhat nervously and with a slight tremor in her voice. Kisu's body was still wrapped all the way around with bandages.

"I woke up because I heard something and everyone else was asleep. When I got up though, five shinobi popped out of nowhere and attacked!" She had to admit, talking like this made her feel a little better.

"I drew three of them away by managing to hit two in the shins. They got angry and followed me, leaving two others to fight the others." The scene was so clear in her mind, as though it happened just that night.

"At first Kisu and I tried to stay out of their way and just hold them off. But then Kisu got hit by a kunai and fell down, I couldn't even see him in the dark." But she had been able to smell his blood and hear his pained whimpers.

"After that, I felt something flooding my body and I was so angry that I attacked like a monster." Minato gazes at the top of her head with a hard gaze. He'd have to make sure she was set straight, and soon.

"I wasn't really thinking of anything but making them pay, drop by drop, for Kisu's spilled blood. It was like I wasn't me anymore." Her voice was shaking now, her shoulders shuddering but she was determinned not to cry.

"I only snapped out of it after Ebisu-sensei took down two while they were distracted and I ripped out the throat of another, with my bare hand." He didn't need any urging, he just put his arms around her and pulled her close.

"Naru-chan, the Kyubi's chakra will react according to the amount of danger and stress of the situation your in. While it may make you think somewhat differenty and attack in a much more fiercer way, that's the fox's doing and not your own." He stated each word clearly and calmly, as though suggesting it was wrong was completely ludicrous.

"You could never be that monster that attacked us all that time ago. You have to remember, you are Naru Uzumaki Namikaze, my daughter and the most beautiful girl in the entire world who no boy shall ever even think of trying to woo!" Here he had added a bit of a joke, though his voice was deadly serious, and she laughed.

"I'm serious! I am never letting you date another boy! Nope, your going to be just my little baby girl!" He tried to defend himself, to no avail and only drawing more fits of laughter.

END OF THIS CHAPTER AND I THINK IT WENT RATHER WELL DON'T YOU?

LC; Alright! Another over 5000 word chapter! I'm so proud of myself!

Naruto; Why is only this fic got so long chapters?

LC; I saw people making 10,000 word chaps and thought I'd start smaller.

Sasuke; So this fic will have 5,000 and the next one you write will have 10,000?

LC; That's the basic idea!


	8. Chunin exams!

LC; Yay! More Spiraling vixen!

Naruto; Last time she made her first kill.

Sasuke; What are you going to do this time?

LC; I am going to talk more on the chunin exams taking place in Iwa and her heritage!

Naruto; Your going to reveal it now?

LC; Most likely. But for now I type nonsensical words for my own amusement.

Sasuke; You realize that no one really gives a damn about your stories or ego right?

LC;...I reject your reality and substitute it with my own!

Sasuke; That answers my question.

Naruto; Where do you come up with this stuff?

LC; . Why?

Both; O.o There's actually a website for those kinds of things?

LC; Google can find some amazing things.

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto or any of the aforementioned websites! I enjoy amusing myself with them, but that's it. I swear!

Chapter 8; To be a Chunin or Die a horrid death, that is the question!

"Yes." She was being persistent.

"Never." He was being stubborn.

"Yes times infinity!" She was being childish.

"Not on your life!" He was being silly.

They were fighting over her taking the chunin exams in Iwa. Kisu sighed for must have been the tenth time as he watched the argument continue.  
>Naru was downright determinned to enter the chunin exams, but since they were being held in Iwa and because of her heritage, Minato was downright reluctant.<p>

Kisu didn't really understand the strategy of attacking the offspring of enemies. To him that sounded stupid and cowardly. Stupid because that drew the attention and ire of the enemy. Cowardly because it proved that they were too afraid to fight the enemy head on. It just didn't make any sense to his canine mind.

Naru glared up at her father with her hands clenched. She wanted to be a chunin and dang it she wanted a fair shot at getting the rank! No one was going to stop her from getting stronger and becoming hokage!

"What if they find out who you are?" Minato asked her. She knew she wasn't strong enough to defend herself if that happened.

"How will they make the connection?" She countered logically. Right now she actually wanted to just start yelling about how stupid he was being but she knew from expierience that would not work. Stupid Ebisu-sensei!

"Please! Please, pretty please!" She pleaded, throwing down the only genjutsu she knew. The Puppy eye no jutsu was truly a masterpiece.

Minato gasped when he saw the jutsu, and though he knew it was a genjutsu, he couldn't break it! It was just like that sunset jutsu that Gai was so fond of. No matter what anyone did it was impossible to escape or look away!

"No." He whimpered, trying to gather all his manly manforce to fight against the forces of womanliness and cuteness! Needless to say he was failing horribly.

"I am participating in the exams, it's my choice, and I made it!" She told him sternly, leaving no room for argument.

He knew she was right, and it was his over protective father instincts trying to get her to stay home and be a nice little genin who never leaves the village, but that didn't make it any easier. Unfortunatly he also knew he couldn't stop her, even though he really wanted to. It was her decision to enlist in these exams, since Ebisu had given that permission already and it wasn't a team exam.

Naru watched with unhidden glee as he finally signed that bothersome paper that would let her become a chunin in no time flat!

Leaving her father to the woes of a kage, she decided she'd look up that Neji guy again. He was really strong and she needed all the training she could get.  
>If she made chunin, then she'd be respected by just about everybody!<p>

Walking through the village with Kisu at her heels, she noticed the looks she recieved from a good number of the villagers.  
>Most of them seemed torn between glaring at her for walking around a fox and shying away when she looked at them <em>because<em> she was walking next to a fox.

By the time she reached the forest her good mood had all but disapated. Why did they have to hate her so much for something she had no control over!  
>It wasn't like she volunteered to be a jinchuriki, it just turned out that way! She didn't even hold a grudge against her father for that anymore! And it had been years since the attack happened!<p>

The least they could do is be a bit more discrete about their dislike. Seriously, how hard would it be to put on an emotionless mask when she was around and wait till she was gone to glare? It would be common courtesy, the jerks!

She shook her head and tried to put the matter out of her head. Eventually she would prove to them she was her own person, not a monster, not even her father's daughter.  
>She was Naru Uzumaki Namikaze and nobody was going to tell her different!<p>

With this firmly established in her mind she grinned and started running. She was too excited to walk calmly down the streets anymore.  
>She needed to find that Neji guy and train right now! There was no time to lose!<p>

Just when she was going to give up and head to the grounds on her own though, she finally found who she was looking for.  
>Neji was walking down the street just ahead of her, all she had to do would be to call out to him. She didn't though. Because at the moment something seemed wrong with him.<p>

He had this sour look on his face, like he had tasted something bad and couldn't get it off of his tongue. He was walking stiffly, like he was in pain too.

Naru looked down at Kisu and recieved an encouraging nod. Neji was a friend, kind of, so she should help him.  
>She ran to catch up to the pale eyed boy.<p>

"Why the long face?" She had managed to convince the boy to come with her to the hokage monument, and now they were sitting on the Yondaime's head.

"No reason." Neji had only accepted due to the fact he was supposed to be seducing her or something for his clan and he couldn't fight his fate.

"With all due respect Neji, if you don't tell me I will tickle it out of you." Naru said seriously. He raised a brow and gave her a side long glance, and his eyes widened as he saw her leap and begin to carry out her threat.

"Spill!" She ordered him as her fingers played over sensetive flesh. Neji gasped desperatly for air but was again interrupted by another swarm of giggles and a fit of laughter.

"Al-Alright!" He finally conceded. Naru let him back up with a smile on her face as she waited for him to catch his breath.

"Today is the anniversary of my father's death." Her smile disappeared and Kisu crept into her lap. When he finished telling the entire story he turned away, but kept an ear open. How would she react to his hatred of the main family.

"A seal to control someone's fate, and a seal to take away a choice." She muttered, thinking how similar they really were. Hey eyes clouded and she turned her gaze down onto the village below her.  
>He had given her something so personal, she should return the favor.<p>

"Neji, what do you know about the Kyubi no kitsune?" As the sun set the two became closer until they sat back to back, just taking warmth in the other's presence.  
>They looked up into the sky, searching for an answer and searching for a sign. Neither saw the other's tears, but felt the heart wrenching sobs that shook their bodies.<p>

"I'm going to be taking the chunin exams in Iwa in a few months." Naru told him.

"Let's meet up tomorrow at 3:00, and we can train together. I'll help you become a genin, and you can help me become a chunin." Neji nodded in acceptance, he was still trying to sort through this new information.

Neji Hyuga lay in his bed that night, not blinking. He sorted through both his facts and his feelings, his beliefs and the truth.  
>Did fate really give such burdens to whoever it saw convenient? What did people like he and Naru do to deserve these things? What about his father, what really happened that night?<p>

Could he have done something to change things? Could there be something that he could do now to change things for others later?

He rolled onto his side and felt the bandage that covered his forehead, hiding his mark from the world. A feeling he wasn't familiar with rose within him, making him almost physically sick and he shot up and ran to the bathroom.

In front of his sink mirror he tore away the bandages and gazed tearfully at the Caged Bird seal that had been engraved onto his head on his fourth birthday.

"Maybe fate decided I would be the one to change it." He muttered. Seals, they were all so intricate, all of them held immense power, and they all locked something away.

That night he made his future change, he forgot his hate, and turned instead to seals. Tomorrow he would look up the seals that he was sure would someday free him and his family of this burden.

"Naru, thank you." He murmured before falling asleep, leaving off the bandages and letting the world know who he was.

_Hokage's Office!_

Minato yawned as he finished the last of that day's paperwork. If only he could somehow adapt the hiraishin to work on paperwork, he'd be set for life.  
>Oh well, with that not really an option and no time for him to explore it anyway, he simply laid the last paper in the out box and gave another yawn.<p>

"Man, one of these days I have got to figure out a way to do this faster. It's exhausting." He got up and bid his ANBU goodnight.

Once inside his home he checked to see if Naru was sleeping in her room tonight. No such luck, she must be at her apartment.  
>He sighed sadly before going to his own room and crashing on the bed.<p>

"Maybe I should get a dog." He considered. He wouldn't be as lonely and someone would always be here to welcome him at least. But then who would have the time to look after a dog? Not the hokage, that's for certain.

_Iwagakure, two weeks later, Tsuchikage's office._

Onoki leaned back in his chair as he over looked the papers stating which genin from what village would be participating in the exam.  
>He paused when he got to Konoha, and growled under his breath about the Flash before opening the envelope.<p>

It seemed some clan children would be coming. There was even an Aburame who was seven that would be coming along. But the only one that caught his eye was an orphan.

Naru Uzumaki, a blonde haired blue eyed little girl who was seven years old and a genin. She would be coming to the exam. Onoki studied her picture closely, trying to discern some unspoken meaning.

Konoha was too big on geniuses to send two of them to a village with open animosity. For two seven year old genin to be coming to the exam would be a scandal, the type that Konoha was pretty big on being the middle of.  
>Those arrogant bastards, sending children to do a shinobi's job! Making his village look bad!<p>

He wished he could decline their requests to participate, but doing so would no doubt send the daimyos into fits and cause another war.  
>While he was no coward, their village was just finishing coming back after the third one. They still needed more time to grow.<p>

He'd just make sure that their teams knocked the kiddies out before they could be embarrased in front of the entire world. That sounded like a master plan.

"Get me Ishizu!" He shouted at his secretary. There was no way he would let those brats show his village up! He'd never be able to live it down. As the last active kage of his generation, he had to do this.

_Amegakure, God's Office._

Pein looked at the reports that his subjects in Akutsuki had sent him. Things were going well, they had already taken three jinchuriki and most of the others had been located.  
>The Kyubi would be especially difficult to attain though, with the protection of the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze.<p>

"I did not suspect he yet lived." He spoke aloud, glaring down at the report Zetsu had delivered earlier.

"We must tread cautiously and search for an oppurtunity." Perhaps this report that the nine tails was travelling to Iwa for the exams would aid him.

In another part of Ame, an orange mask wearing man stood in the prison, looking down on a boy who he had long since kept tied down.

"Obito, how are you doing today?" He asked conversationally.

"Just fine thanks, view's not too good." He said that everyday without fail. Obito opened his remaining eye and lifted his head to look at the man he had come to absolutely despise.

"I wonder how your beloved sensei will try to rescue you. No doubt Kakashi will be throwing a fit if he ever finds out where you've been all this time." A light was flipped on and Obito winced, snapping his eye closed.

He hadn't aged at all, Madara used the same technique on Obito that kept _him _young. As it were, it was a huge success and one he would be sure to capitalize on.

"Bastard, just, let me die already so I don't have to look at the butt ugly mug of yours." Obito muttered balefully, his spirit and fight draining, leaving behind a shell. He was too tired to fight Madara anymore, he just wanted to surrender now.

"Oh no, not just yet. I still have uses for you." The masked man stated before leaving him in the darkness again, for who knows how long this time.

He listened just beyond the door to the younger Uchiha's frame shaking sobs before walking away, an unreadable look in his eye.

Realizing he was alone again, Obito broke out laughing. His mind had probably been shattered beyond repair, his spirit too lost for redemption, but he didn't care anymore. Let Madara get his jollies from tormenting him day in and day out, see how he cared! Because this was still better than that Hell of being ignored by his entire family.

"Kashi, Rin, Minato-sensei, sorry." He gasped between outbreaks of laughter. The chains holding him down pulled taut as he lost himself in the throes of insane cackling but he barely noticed the bite.

"Sorry, sorry." He continued to apologize until he passed out some hours later.

_Konohagakure, Memorial Stone._

Kakashi stood in front of the stone, gazing at a single name. Obito, his teammate who he thought was long since lost and who's eye he shared. It sounded impossible, but what Madara said, could it be true?  
>Could Obito really be alive after all these years? Trapped and waiting for them to rescue him?<p>

"Obito, I'll find you!" He swore. His revealed eye closed as he sensed another's presence approaching. He sighed inwardly before placing his Inu mask back on his face.

"Inu-taicho, hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama wish to speak with you." Ah, so they had sent Tenzo? Must be important.

He shunshined to the tower and was greeted by not only the latest ICHA ICHA, but sensei and Jiraiya-sama.

"Sensei, Jiraiya-sama." He nodded in acknowledgement, storing the new book safely into his pouch. He had long since mastered the art of paying attention to multiple opponents while keeping track of the goings on of the book, but not even ICHA ICHA could make him feel better at the moment.

"Kakashi, we think we know where Obito's being kept." Minato told him sternly. Jiraiya grunted before telling Kakashi everything he could about this organization, Akutsuki, and their base of operations.

It had been a complete accident for him to find that tidbit of information, but he wasn't going to tell anyone that. Let them believe that the gallant Jiraiya was just _that_ good!

_Three Months Later, entrance to Iwagakure no sato!_

Naru whistled in admiration as she saw the many stone buildings just beyond the gate. She knew that each building was crafted from a special earth jutsu, so she admired the level of control it must have taken.

"Gotta say, when they say hidden in the stone, they really mean in the stone." She muttered to her ever companion, Kisu.

"It is only logical." Naru looked sideways over to where her fellow genin, Shino, was walking beside her. His sensei, a woman named Anko, was her acting sensei while they were here as well.  
>Shino's two teammates looked like they were about a sigh from a nervous breakdown. After being in Anko-sensei's presence for the entire trip, Naru could understand why.<p>

Even Shino showed a lot of negative emotions, like panic, whenever the woman was near. Seeing the stoic Aburame so uncomfortable in his trench coat was an empty victory for the Uzumaki.  
>She had tried time and again to get some sort of reaction from the boy, but nope, it was an older woman who cracked his glasses! Darn!<p>

"How do you think we'll do?" She asked him curiously. He hadn't really said anything about their individual chances since this trip began.

"Personally I believe it would be very surprising if one of us got to the final round." The boy admitted. His teammates were older and admittedly stronger than he was. It couldn't be helped though. There could only be so much muscle mass that a seven year old could get.

"Naru-sama, we're being watched." She was carrying Kisu half in her arms and half of him leaning over her shoulders.

"Yeah I know!" She said boisterously. They had gotten into the habit of trying to make their conversations sound unimportant so enemies wouldn't know that they knew that they were being tailed! Did that confuse you as much as it did me?

"We're gonna rock!" She decided, not noticing the pun nor caring. There is a fine line between ignorance and apathy. Although she didn't know it and she didn't care anyway.

"I think there is three of them, appearing to be around genin level." Kisu reported, making it look like he was trying to wriggle out of her arms.

"Hold still for _three minutes _Kisu! Your excited too huh?" Anko looked down at the extra gaki she was escorting and wondered why the three minutes had been so enunciated.  
>She thought about the meaning and only then noticed the gakis following her and her gakis! Wait, there was way too many gakis! How would she keep track of which gaki?<p>

Anyway, back on track! So that meant three Iwa gakis were following them. Who were they interrested in though? She looked at the two youngest members and cringed.  
>Get rid of the geniuses before they get too strong, it was a common enough strategy. She'd have to stay on her toes.<p>

_Next Day! Chunin exams!_

Naru and Kisu took a deep breath before entering the building where the first stage was being held. She knew what this building was. This was Iwa's torture and Investigation department's HQ. It smelled the same as the one in Konoha, only stronger.

A wave of nausea passed over her and she did her best not to gag or show how the smell was affecting her. Kisu sneezed and buried his nose into her hair, trying to replace the smell of decaying bodies and blood with her shampoo.

She met their head of the T&I, a woman by the name of Ishizu who clearly had a higher level of sadism than the job required, and seemed to revel in it.

"Alright kiddies, for this stage you will have to prove that you are trustworthy. As chunin you'll be asked to carry secret documents, no doubt with important village secrets in them. In order to prove your valor, you will be given a password and taken to a room. In there you will be subjected to torture that only a demon could think of!" The woman broke off, laughing maniacally, for a second.

"Ahem. If you manage to stop yourself from giving away your password, then you pass. If not, sucks to be you." She finished, picking up a box with dozens of papers in it. Naru guessed that these papers held their passwords.

She accepted her paper and had it registered before being led to another room. On the way there though she managed to convey to Kisu to hide until she came out.  
>If he went in with her they might decide to use him against her and she wasn't sure she could take that. Not after almost losing him once.<p>

She was strapped to a chair and then left alone for heaven knows how long. It felt like an eternity to her but she knew this test had a time limit of three hours. It was probably a genjutsu to make it seem longer than it really was.

She tried to release the genjutsu but summoning any amount of genjutsu sent electric shocks up and down her body. It came from the restraints.

"Chakra suppression?" She mumbled hatefully, glaring down at the restraints with all the fury a seven year old girl could call forth. It wasn't enough to make them burst into flames but she knew she was close!

"Naru Uzumaki, for the next three hours you shall be subjected to torture via genjutsu." An emotionless voice droned from the darkness. She tried to see who was talking, they were behind her, but the world went black.

Suddenly she was back in _that_ forest facing _those_ nin and this time Ebisu-sensei _didn't_ come to save her.  
>She watched Kisu fall, then she watched as she decimated the three nin, and then <em>went back<em> to kill the other two! She felt their blood on her hands, she felt that insane glee whenever their heart stopped beating while she held it in her fist.

She was then pushed into another scene, one where she lost control of the demon inside of her completely! She couldn't control her body but felt everything that it did.  
>She felt the maniacal laughter bubbling within her, the blood raining thick. She felt people fall around her as her tails swished. She was a kyubi, <em>no, <em>she was the Kyubi!

She roared and lost herself in the slaughter, killing everyone one after another. Her father, Iruka-sensei, Ebisu-sensei, Shino, Neji, all her old classmates, the Ichirakus, everybody in the village!

"Make it stop!" She wailed, suddenly finding her voice. She logically knew it was a genjutsu she was seeing, but it didn't matter. She wanted those images out of her head and she wanted them out _now!_

Without any warning a haze fell over her, she felt the electrical suppression seals shocking her body but it was muted, they were shorting out. She heard herself screaming.  
>She broke through the restraints and the genjutsu literally shattered in the face of the demon's chakra.<p>

She let the chakra flow away quickly. She didn't want anyone to know that she was a jinchuriki. The chakra had only been there for an instant before it vanished, but it was more than enough for her to break free of the torture.

The door burst open and an Iwa jounin rushed inside. The woman sneered at her before replacing the restraints. The genjutsu didn't return though, instead her tormentor turned to physical pain.

That was easy to ignore though, she'd had practice after all. The woman's nails raked her skin and the scratches burned and itched but she barely gave it any mind other than it was there.

"Come on gaki, you can get out if you just tell me your password." The woman purred into her ear, trying her best to sound motherly and kind. Failing horribly at it too.

"Piss off." Naru growled. She wasn't in the mood anymore for this stupid test. But she wasn't giving them the satisfaction of driving her away. No, she was going all the way in this death march!

Eventually the three hours ended and the remaining participants were healed before being released for the day. The next test would be in the morning.

_Tsuchikage Office!_

"What do you mean both the brats passed!" Onoki roared. He had given strict instructions that the two be given S-rank genjutsu but neither brat had given in? Where was the justice and who had he pissed off upstairs to deserve this?

"Sir, apparently the Aburame's instructor did not take into account the fact that the kikaichu are not affected by genjutsu. As for the girl," Ishizu paused, unsure how exactly to put it.

"The genjutsu was working perfectly, she was begging for it to stop, but then something changed." Ishizu would never forget the awful feeling of being _dirty_ that the girl had given her. That insane amount of chakra that had burst forth had completely fazed all her defenses. She was ready for KI and even bloodlust, but she wasn't ready for utter loathing!

"It's difficult to explain except the girl was able to completely overload the suppressors." Onoki growled as he bid the woman leave before he vented his frustration by punching a hole through his desk.

Damn, that's the tenth desk this month.

He sighed before telling his secretary to bring in another desk. He got up to leave when he was struck by something. Ishizu's face when she spoke of that girl, was that fear? His brows merged together and his nostrils flared a little, making him look more than slightly intimidating to many people.

He walked home and set himself up for the night. His mind went over the happenings of the day, as per usual routine, with one difference. They kept focusing on that girl!  
>That stupid little blonde haired and blue eyed brat that had beaten an S-rank genjutsu with seemingly no special ability other than a vast amount of chakra!<p>

The more he pictured the girl in his mind's eye, the more pissed off he felt for some reason. He normally didn't hold this kind of grudge against anyone, or at least not since that baka Minato Namikaze.

He shot straight out of bed and pulled his bingo book out from under his pillow. Flipping through the pages he stopped when he found the Ns.  
>Yep, there he was in black and white, or rather full color.<p>

He went to his mini-office and pulled out a picture of that blonde girl, then looked at both of them. Oh no, this was just too rich!

"The Yellow Flash has a daughter!" He cackled, unable to stop himself from picturing ways he could dismember the girl to hurt her father. Because there was no denying it, that girl was his spitting image! Well...if the Yellow Flash had been female anyway.

Onoki pushed away that mildly disturbing thought of a female flash before he dressed and called his ROCKS. He had to be sure, and he knew just how to check.  
>After all, he was one of the only men in the world to have drawn the blood of that damned Namikaze after he finished his technique. Getting the girl's blood would be a simple matter.<p>

Hours later he waited anxiously, only now realizing the consequences of this test. If it was positive, and he did kill her, what would stop the Flash from completely decimating his village, down to the last man, woman, and child? Nothing. And no one.

"Curse you Flash, curse you." He muttered anxiously, wishing he had something to occupy himself other than the various routes he could take in accordance with the answer. Funnily enough he never even bothered thinking of what he would do if the test came out negative. It was something that he just couldn't fathom, not after putting the two pictures so close together as to be scrutinized.

"Sir, the test results are in." He turned and accepted a manila folder from his most trusted ROCKS and did not protest when the man did not leave. He wasn't the only one with a grudge against Konoha after all, he couldn't be selfish.

With trepidition, he ripped open the folder and pulled out the papers. Just as he had both feared and hoped for. The test was a positive match.

"The Yellow Flash has a daughter." Rather than before, this wasn't followed by laughter and plots for revenge. This was followed by a paling and a fear gripping both hearts that neither were accustomed to.

"What do we do about this sir?" The ROCKS asked him.

"We don't know if she has one of those blasted kunai with her or not, or if she can use the damnable technique herself yet." Onoki pointed out, calming himself down by laying out the facts.

"She's obviously already strong, we can't afford another war, not at the moment. Not against two Flashes!" Dear Kami just the thought made his blood run cold!

It was then he was struck by an idea. Why risk a war, when he could do something even better. Since the Flash had a _daughter_ she would most likely join with any clan she happened to marry into. If she married into one of their clans, she would be forced to move here to live with her husband!

They would be able to gain the Flash's technique for their own! They could mass produce it! Then destroy the entire Konohagakure!

Onoki suggested the idea to his ROCKS and when he was given confirmation that it would work, ordered the mask nin to bring him a list of suitable candidates.  
>It had to be someone near her age, who was already showing some promising ability. They had to work this just right too, or all would be lost.<p>

END OF THE CHAPTER NOW YOU MUST WAIT WHILE I WORK ON OTHER STORIES! NYA!

LC; Yes! It's finished!

Naruto; Wow, out of all the chapters for this story so far it was hardest for you to write this.

Sasuke; What made it so different from the others?

LC; I wanted to get everything just right. This is how I picture it would happen.

Naruto; Is that really how Onoki acts?

LC; I have no idea but that's how I picture him. I don't read manga.

Sasuke; So you did nothing other than looking up a few things about him from wiki?

LC; Yeah that's pretty much it!


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